Skip is the chair of the firm's private wealth services team. His extensive experience includes estate planning, estate and trust administration, and work with charitable organizations. He works with clients regarding planning for families with closely held businesses, including ownership succession issues; the use of family limited partnerships, limited liability companies, and other techniques to transfer wealth at significantly reduced transfer tax costs; and counseling on the appropriate uses of family offices.

He has worked for over 20 years with groups interested in reforming the federal tax system, and advises and consults with other law firms on substantive estate planning issues and the administration of their practices. His experience also includes audits of estate tax returns involving unique assets such as art, trust and estate litigation, and the formation and operation of public and private charities, including the formation of charities after the sale of not-for-profit hospitals to for profit corporations. He has worked extensively with corporate fiduciaries on a variety of issues.

Skip has contributed numerous articles to many publications including Trusts & Estates, Estate Planning, Trusts & Trustee, and the Journal of Asset Protection. He was a member of the editorial board of Trusts & Estates, and was chairman of the editorial board of Trust & Investments from 2003 to 2012. He also writes a bi-monthly column for American Bankers Association Trust Newsletter. He is a member of the CCH Estate Planning Advisory Committee. He was editor of the ACTEC Journal from 2005-2006.

He is the co-editor of Making Sense of the 2010 Estate Tax Legislation (CCH, 2011) and Estate Planning Strategies After Estate Tax Reform: Insights and Analysis (CCH, 2001). He is the author of the Estate Planning with Life Insurance volume of the CCH Financial Planning Library, and co-author of the books Estate Planning Manual (2001 edition), Fiduciary Law and Trust Activities Guide, and Tax Law Guide, all published by the American Bankers Association.

He lectures annually around the country at numerous seminars on estate planning and trust administration topics for banks, trust associations, estate planning councils, tax institutes, bar associations and other organizations, including the University of Miami Heckerling Estate Planning Institute and the Notre Dame Estate Planning Institute. He also is the co-presenter of the monthly teleconferences on estate planning and trust administration topics presented by the American Bankers Association since 2001.

Skip is a member of the faculty of the National Trust School and the National Graduate Trust School (at which he has taught for over twenty-five years), and was an adjunct professor at Northwestern University Law School from 1983-2005. He is currently an adjunct professor at the University of Virginia School of Law. He serves or has served on the boards of several charities including the University of Virginia Law School Foundation and the Episcopal High School in Virginia, from which he received a Distinguished Service Award in 2001. He is also chairman of the Duke University Estate Planning Council.