ESTATE PLANNING COUNCIL OF ARKANSAS

Leslie provides consultation and legal advice on planning and fiduciary administration to private clients and Sentinel Trust Company, her former employer. She writes and lectures on related topics for professional organizations in law, accounting, wealth planning, and financial services. She has a JD from the University of Houston Law Center (1987) and a BA in Music and Education from Texas State University (1976).

She stepped down as Chief Fiduciary Officer at Sentinel after 15 years spent ensuring consistency and best practices in trust administration and serving its wealthiest clients, and those with the most complex fiduciary needs and estate plans. To that role, she brought resources gained from prior fiduciary and banking experience, as a Market Trust Executive over a multi-state region for Bank of America, and as Assistant General Counsel and Trust Officer for a regional bank. Before that, from 1987-1994, Leslie practiced law in Houston in a firm focused on complex business litigation. She was an Adjunct Professor at the University of Houston Law Center from 1988-2000.

Leslie is a Fellow in the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC); a Past Chair of the Houston Bar Association’s Probate, Trust, and Estate Section; a Past President of the Houston Estate and Financial Forum; a Past President of the Houston Business and Estate Planning Council; a past Texas Bankers Association Director; and Past Chair of the TBA Wealth Management & Trust Division Advisory Council. She continues to serve on TBA Inter-Governmental Relations and Education Committees. She is a Sustaining Life Fellow of the Texas Bar Foundation and has been a Member of the Texas Bar College and the Real Estate, Probate and Trust Section for nearly 30 years. She frequently presents continuing education for national, state, and local bar associations, estate planning councils, CPA societies, and various state banking organizations. She has been on faculty for the Texas Bankers Association Trust and Graduate Trust Schools every year since 1997 and has taught at the American Bankers Association Graduate Trust School. An Accredited Estate Planner (AEP) of National Association of Estate Planners and Councils (NAEPC) since 2007, she joined the NAEPC Speakers Bureau in 2014. She is passionate about live theater, history, and a devoted member of several book clubs. Her grandmother name is Gigi.

A complete list of her publications and presentations (approximately 150) is available on request

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