The ACTEC Foundation promotes: (a) scholarship and education in trust, estate, tax and related areas of the law by supporting scholarship to improve the law and by encouraging teaching, careers and life-long learning in the area; and (b) civic engagement of individual Fellows through programs and activities which serve the general community, including those who are at risk and underserved.

The Board and Officers of your Foundation thank the many Fellows who were able to support the Foundation so generously with their year-end contributions. We urge everyone to continue their support throughout the new year of the Foundation and its important work.

The Foundation Board met last on October 18th in Williamsburg, Virginia. Several administrative matters were addressed including the retention of an accounting firm to prepare an audit and the careful review of the Foundation’s Articles of Incorporation and Bylaws to determine what amendments would be advisable at this time. To assure the Foundation remains in step with the Fellows and the College, the Board reviewed and discussed a report prepared by its Long Range Planning Committee on those portions of the College’s 2006 long range plan relating to the Foundation.

Grants

An important task of each Board meeting is the review of proposed grants and the monitoring of existing ones and the Fall Board meeting was no exception. The Foundation continues to support the cost of publication and distribution of the ACTEC Commentaries on the Model Rules of Professional Conduct, Fourth Edition, 2006. In 2007, the Foundation supplied a grant for the publication of new and expanded ACTEC Engagement Letters for practitioners in the field of trusts and estates. Both of these publications grew out of the work of the Professional Responsibility Committee of the College.

The Foundation is now focusing on identifying new projects where the Foundation’s support can make a significant difference in legal scholarship and improvement in the practice of law for trusts and estates lawyers. The Foundation recently renewed its support of the Social Science Research Network (SSRN) which abstracts articles focusing on wills, trusts and estates. The SSRN Journal is an electronic archive of scholarly papers which provides an excellent research tool for students and professors as well as practitioners.

The Foundation also has sponsored academic conferences and symposia. The Foundation supported the academic conference entitled “Trust Law in the 21st Century” at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law during fiscal year 2005. The Foundation then became the primary sponsor of a symposium at UCLA Law School in 2008 on the Law of Succession. In October, the Foundation was the primary sponsor of a grant symposium, “The Law of Philanthropy in the 21st Century”, held at Chicago-Kent College of Law. The event received rave reviews by those who presented and those who attended. The symposium papers will be published in the Chicago-Kent Law Review. The Legal Education Committee of the College has already begun to consider a topic and location for the next symposium.

The Board of the Foundation is proud of the success of the Mary Moers Wening writing competition which encourages and supports law students who are interested in pursuing a career in the trusts and estates field and provides monetary awards for the winners of the competition. The Foundation also recently authorized a three-year grant to fund a student editorial board through Hofstra University to assist with the production of the ACTEC Journal.

Finally, starting in fiscal year 2007, the Foundation started a pilot project to develop and support a legal services clinic to train law students to assist with basic needs for estate planning, estate and trust administration and guardianships. The initial location for the project was at the Harvard Law School. The clinic has produced an excellent legal clinic handbook which is now available to other law schools to start similar estate and trust clinics. Last fall, the University of Tennessee launched its clinical education program based on the model. In addition to serving the needs of an underserved population in various locations, the Foundation hopes this will encourage law students to pursue a career in our area of practice.

Revenue

The Board considered and will pursue several approaches to disseminating information about the important work of the Foundation and the need for the broadest possible support by Fellows and others. Basic introductory materials will be made available to state chairs, committee chairs and officers to share whenever Fellows meet on official business of the College. An effort will be made to assure there is 100% participation by everyone in a position of leadership within the College.

Final Thoughts

With projects like the Commentaries, Engagement Letters and the SSRN as well as ongoing support for symposia, writing competitions and legal clinical training it is clear the work the Foundation promotes and supports benefits all Fellows and the profession at large in important and significant ways.

To promote greater accessibility and transparency the Foundation’s website www.ACTECFoundation.org has been revised and updated. We encourage all Fellows to visit the site and get better acquainted with the information and resources available there. The site is still a work in progress and we welcome your comments and suggestions on how we can continue to improve the site so it is of most benefit to the Fellows and the public at large.

The Board invites and encourages the participation of all Fellows. It is also important for you to let the leadership of the Foundation know your thoughts and insights with respect to the projects being considered or undertaken. Of equal importance, if you are aware of a new project which you believe the Foundation should consider, the Foundation would like to hear from you. We wish to express our appreciation to our regular contributors. For those of you who have yet to join the ranks of Foundation contributors, we seek your serious consideration and thank you for your anticipated generosity. The scholarship and programs you will help foster will have a direct and beneficial impact on our profession and College, and of even greater importance, on the general public and the clients served by the Fellows of the College. We look forward to seeing you in Bonita Springs.

      Edward J. Beckwith
      Washington, District of Columbia

      Cynda C. Ottaway
      Oklahoma City, Oklahoma