An Inside Look Into the Modern Family Program Speakers
Robert Merlin has been practicing law for more than 40 years. He focuses exclusively on family law, specializing in using the collaborative process and non-adversarial techniques to resolve disputes. He serves on the boards of the International Academy of Collaborative Professionals, Florida Academy of Collaborative Professionals and the Collaborative Family Law Institute. Merlin is a Past Chair of The Florida Bar Family Law Rules Committee and Past President of the Florida Chapter of the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts. Merlin lectures regularly on Collaborative Family Law and he is an adjunct professor in Collaborative Law at the University of Florida Levin College of Law. He earned his B.S. and law degrees from the University of Florida.
Kevin Packman is an attorney in Holland & Knight's Private Wealth Services Group. He leads the firm's International Estate Planning Group, as well as the Tax Controversy and Litigation Team. His practice includes advising high-net-worth private clients (whether U.S. or foreign) with tax, trusts and estates. This also includes pre-immigration planning and expatriation planning. He also helps clients come into compliance and resolve tax controversies. Packman is a fellow of the American College of Trusts & Estates (ACTEC), a frequent author on topics related to tax and regularly speaks at national and international tax conferences. He is also frequently quoted by the national media. Packman earned his B.A. from the University of Texas, his J.D. from Washington University School of Law and LL.M in Estate Planning from the University of Miami School of Law.
For more than two decades, Elizabeth Schwartz has been practicing law and advocating for the legal rights of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT+) community. She is board certified by the Florida Bar in Adoption Law. While her Miami-based firm works with straight and gay clients in matters of family formation (adoption and surrogacy) and dissolution, estate planning and probate, she has been on the forefront of providing crucial legal protections for LGBT+ families before and since the arrival of marriage equality. Schwartz is the Co-chair of the national board of Sage Advocacy & Services for LGBT+ Elders, a fellow of the Academy of Adoption & Assisted Reproduction Attorneys, and member of the Collaborative Family Law Institute. She is the author of Before I Do: A Legal Guide to Marriage, Gay & Otherwise (The New Press, 2016). A Miami Beach native, Schwartz received her B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania in 1993 and her J.D. cum laude from the University of Miami School of Law.
Mark Scott is a leader in Kaufman Rossin’s estate and trust practice. He specializes in creating and implementing intricate estate planning strategies for clients in various industries. In addition to developing estate plans, Scott provides clients with gift tax planning, trust tax planning and estate and gift tax return examination services. He is a member of The Florida Bar and served on its continuing legal education committee. Scott is also a director for The Florida Bar Tax Section, serves as a Member of its Executive Council and is Co-director of the Long-range Planning Committee. He is an adjunct professor at the University of Miami School of Law, teaching the federal income taxation of trusts and estates in the school’s graduate program in taxation. He earned his B.A. from the University of Florida and his law degree and master’s in taxation from the Chicago-Kent College of Law.
