TWG in the News
Tyler Heffron Included in 2010 40 Under 40 Class
The Wichita Business Journal recently announced its 2010 recipients of the "40 Under 40" award. TWG associate Tyler Heffron was included among the 2010 honorees.
The 40 Under 40 awards were commenced in 1998 and recognize people in the Wichita community who are under the age of 40 and who have demonstrated success and leadership ability. Five other TWG lawyers have previously received the 40 under 40 award.
Rachael Pirner Receives KBA Outstanding Service Award.
(June 14, 2010) Topeka, KS - Rachael Pirner received the Kansas Bar Association's Outstanding Service Award during its Installation and Awards Dinner on June 11 in Wichita. The Outstanding Service Awards are given for the purpose of recognizing lawyers and judges for service to the legal profession and/or the Kansas Bar Association and for recognizing non-lawyers for especially meritorious deeds or service that significantly advance the administration of justice or the goals of the legal profession and/or the KBA. Rachael currently serves as president-elect of the Kansas Bar Association, after serving as vice president and two terms as a District 7 governor to the KBA Board of Governors. She is past chair of the KBA Litigation Section and served on the KBA Continuing Legal Education and Nominating committees and the Fee Dispute Resolution Panel.
Rachael has been a member of the Wichita Bar Association's Legislative, Public Relations, Probate (chair), Diversity, Unauthorized Practice of Law, and Nominating committees; held all offices of the Wichita Women Attorneys Association (WWAA); and served as president, vice president, secretary, regional coordinator, and chair of the Public Relations Committee of the Kansas Women Attorneys Association. In 2001, the WWAA awarded Rachael with the Maddox Award, which honors persons who have worked to advance opportunities for women in law.
Rachael has long-participated in the Lawyer's Care Project through Kansas Legal Services, volunteered to represent women seeking protection from abuse orders, and prepared advance directives for indigent persons in hospice care. She has served on the board of directors of the YWCA and Planned Parenthood, is a member of the board of trustees for KPTS public television, on the boards of IOTLA and Kybele Inc., and as past president of the Community Council for Women's Studies at Wichita State University.
Tad Patton Presents Estate Planning Seminar
Tad Patton presented an estate planning seminar at Friends University on May 12, 2010. The seminar was sponsored by Friends University and attended by 40 people. The seminar was available to the public and addressed basic estate planning needs and concerns. Tad spoke spoke about wills, living wills, health care powers of attorney, financial powers of attorney, transfer on death designations and revocable living trusts.
Amy Cline Elected to Kansas Legal Services Board
Amy Cline has been elected to the Board of Directors for Kansas Legal Services as the representative for the Wichita area. Kansas Legal Services, a statewide non-profit organization, is dedicated to helping low income Kansans meet their basic needs through the provision of essential legal, mediation and employment training services. KLS strives to eliminate the causes of poverty and mitigate its effects by helping individuals achieve and maintain self-sufficiency and family supporting employment. Amy's term will continue through 2013.
Pirner Admitted to American College of Trust and Estate Counsel.
Rachael Pirner has been admitted to membership in the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel or "ACTEC." Rachael was selected as a Fellow in ACTEC at the ACTEC annual meeting held March 9-14, 2010, in Bonita Springs, Florida.
The American College of Trust and Estate Counsel is a professional association consisting of approximately 2,700 lawyers from throughout the United States. Fellows of the College are nominated by other Fellows in their geographic area and are elected by the membership at large. A lawyer cannot apply for membership in the College. Fellows are selected on the basis of professional reputation and ability in the fields of trusts and estates and on the basis of having made substantial contributions to these fields through lecturing, writing, teaching and bar activities.
Rachael is a member of TWG, having commenced her practice with the firm in 1989. She represents clients in trust and probate-related litigation. She practices in probate as well as civil courts in matters involving trust accountings and malfeasance issues, will contests, contested guardianship and conservatorship matters, and contested adoptions. Rachael also represents individuals in connection with assisted reproduction, handling all aspects, from the contract work to the establishment of paternity and/or maternity.
Andrew Kovar Speaker at Midwest Regional Public Finance Conference.
Andrew Kovar was a speaker at the 14th Annual Midwest Regional Public Finance Conference held in Wichita on February 18-19, 2010. Andrew was part of a three person panel that spoke on "Financial Management: How to ‘Open’ Your Records." Andrew’s presentation dealt with the Kansas Open Records Act, which is the Kansas version of the Freedom of Information Act, and its impact on securities disclosure laws. Andrew is an associate attorney with TWG and practices primarily in the areas of real estate law, municipal bond financing and general business and commercial law.
Tim McKee Re-Appointed to Kansas Electric Transmission Authority
Wichita, KS (February 10, 2010) - The Kansas Senate has approved the appointment of Tim McKee as a member of the Kansas Electric Transmission Authority ("KETA") for a term continuing through March 15, 2013. McKee is serving his second term on KETA, having first been appointed by then governor Kathleen Sebelius. Governor Mark Parkinson appointed McKee as a KETA member for a second term, and the Kansas Senate approved the appointment on January 21, 2010.
KETA was created by the Kansas legislature in 2005 for the purpose of attempting to ensure reliable operation of the electrical transmission system, diversify and expand the Kansas economy and facilitate consumption of Kansas energy through improvements in the state’s electric transmission infrastructure.
Tim McKee is an attorney with the firm of Triplett, Woolf & Garretson, LLC in Wichita, Kansas. His legal practice focuses on representation of business clients in litigated and regulated matters involving oil and gas, natural resource, and utility issues. McKee makes frequent appearances before the KCC and handles litigation and regulatory matters for exploration and production companies, pipelines, telecommunications companies and municipal governments.
Eric Metz Presents Employment Law Seminar at Wichita Bar Association
On January 22, 2010, Eric Metz presented at a continuing education seminar of the Wichita Bar Association on "Helping Clients Find the Best Employees and Protect Themselves in the Process: Background Checks and Noncompetition Agreements." Eric is the head of TWG’s employment law practice.
Tom Triplett Named Corporate Lawyer of the Year
Wichita, KS (November 17, 2009) - Best Lawyers has named Thomas C. Triplett as the "Wichita Best Lawyers Corporate Lawyer of the Year" for 2010.
After more than a quarter of a century in publication, Best Lawyers is designating "Lawyers of the Year" in high-profile legal specialties in large legal communities. Only a single lawyer in each specialty in each community is being honored as the "Lawyer of the Year."
Best Lawyers compiles its lists of outstanding attorneys by conducting peer-review surveys in which thousands of leading lawyers confidentially evaluate their professional peers. The current, 16th edition of The Best Lawyers in America (2010), is based on more than 2.8 million detailed evaluations of lawyers by other lawyers.
The lawyers being honored as "Lawyers of the Year" have received particularly high ratings in our surveys by earning a high level of respect among their peers for their abilities, professionalism, and integrity.
Steven Naifeh, Managing Editor of Best Lawyers, says, "We continue to believe – as we have believed for more than 25 years – that recognition by one’s peers is the most meaningful form of praise in the legal profession. We would like to congratulate Thomas C. Triplett on being selected as the ‘Wichita Best Lawyers Corporate Lawyer of the Year’ for 2010."
Eric Metz Featured Speaker for Society of Human Resource Management
Eric Metz, who heads the TWG Employment Law practice group, was the featured speaker at the October 21, 2009 meeting of the Wichita Chapter of the Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM). His topic was "Employment Policy and Employment Legal Changes Under the Obama Administration."
SIX ATTORNEYS of Triplett, Woolf & Garretson, LLC recognized by Missouri-Kansas "Super Lawyers®" for 2009
Wichita, KS (October 21, 2009) – Six attorneys from the law firm of Triplett, Woolf & Garretson, LLC, have been recognized by Missouri/Kansas Super Lawyers for 2009.
Super Lawyers are nominated by their peers and then chosen by their peers and through the independent research of Law & Politics magazine, which performs the polling, research and selection process designed to identify only the top five percent of Missouri and Kansas attorneys in more than 60 practice areas. More information on the selection process is available at www.superlawyers.com.
The selection process for Rising Stars is the same as the Super Lawyers selection process except that a candidate must be either 40 years old or younger or in practice for ten years or less, and candidates do not go through peer evaluation by practice area. No more than 2.5 percent of lawyers in Kansas are named to the Rising Stars list.
Triplett, Woolf & Garretson, LLC lawyers recognized as Super Lawyers 2009 include:
- Thomas C. Triplett, Tax, Estate Planning & Probate; Mergers & Acquisitions
- James A. Walker, Business and General Litigation
- Theron E. Fry, Tax, Estate Planning & Probate, Employee Benefits/ERISA
- Eric B. Metz, Employment & Labor; Business Litigation
- Ron H. Harnden, Real Estate; Mergers & Acquisitions
In addition, Tyler E. Heffron has been selected for inclusion in the Missouri & Kansas Rising Stars 2009 list.
ELEVEN ATTORNEYS of Triplett, Woolf & Garretson, LLC named Kansas "Best Lawyers®"
Wichita, KS (September 11, 2009) – Eleven attorneys from the law firm of Triplett, Woolf & Garretson, LLC, have been recognized as Best Lawyers in America for 2010.
Best Lawyers is the oldest and most respected peer-review publication in the legal profession. A Best Lawyers selection is the result of confidential peer evaluation. Best Lawyers is widely regarded within the legal profession as a signal honor, conferred on a lawyer by his or her peers. For more than 25 years, Best Lawyers lists have earned the respect of the profession, the media, and the public, as the most reliable, unbiased source of legal referrals anywhere. More information regarding Best Lawyers is available at www.bestlawyers.com/aboutus.
Triplett, Woolf & Garretson, LLC lawyers selected with this honor include:
- Thomas C. Triplett, Corporate Law, Tax Law, Trusts and Estates
- John P. Woolf, Commercial Litigation, Bet-the-Company Litigation
- Thomas P. Garretson, Corporate Law
- James A. Walker, Commercial Litigation
- Timothy E. McKee, Natural Resources Law
- Theron E. Fry, Trusts and Estates
- Jeffrey D. Leonard, Construction Law
- Eric B. Metz, Labor and Employment Law
- Ron H. Harnden, Mergers and Acquisitions Law, Real Estate Law
- J. T. Klaus, Public Finance Law
- Jerry W. Rogers, Intellectual Property Law
Tom Triplett Honored by "Best Lawyers®"
Tom Triplett was recently honored by Best Lawyers in America ® as one of only 24 preeminent Kansas lawyers who have been listed in Best Lawyers since its first publication 25 years ago. Best Lawyers is the oldest and one of the most respected peer review publication in the legal profession. More information about Best Lawyers can be found at www.bestlawyers.com.
