Robert Held represents a wide range of individuals and fiduciaries in matters ranging from sophisticated transfer tax planning to complex will and trust litigation.

Rob’s Illinois Bar Journal commentary, “Refuse the Bequest or Lose the Will Contest: The Unforgiving Doctrine of Election” was recently cited and adopted by the Illinois Appellate Court, First District. Boyar v. Dixon, 2012 IL App (1st) 11103,¶31. The article argued that the policy preventing an heir from simultaneously accepting a benefit under a will while contesting that will should apply with equal force to trusts.

Rob authored the chapter, Advanced Estate Planning with IRAs, in the 2012 edition of the Illinois Institute of Continuing Legal Education Publication, Retirement Benefits Issues in Estate Planning.

Rob was recently profiled in Leading Lawyers Network Magazine and has written numerous articles including “Clyde Bowles - My Law Partner and Mentor to All” published in the 2011 Law Day Edition of the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin, and “Contempt: The Court's Highest Power” in the November 2010 CBA Record. Rob is the co-author of the 2006 article, Federal Court Denies Protection in Bankruptcy for Inherited IRA, published in the Illinois State Bar Association's Commercial, Banking & Bankruptcy Law Newsletter. Rob is the co-author of the 2006 article, Federal Court Denies Protection in Bankruptcy for Inherited IRA, published in the Illinois State Bar Association's Commercial, Banking & Bankruptcy Law Newsletter. He is also a co-author of the 2006 update as well as the original chapter, Handling Family Limited Partnerships and LLCs, in the Illinois Institute of Continuing Legal Education publication, Illinois Estate Administration. Rob also authored “IRAs and Bankruptcy” and “A Trust Counsel's Duty to Beneficiaries,” published in the Illinois Bar Journal. He co-authored “Hedging Death and Taxes,” and “Sham Transaction Doctrine,” published in Trusts & Estates Magazine.

Rob previously chaired the Insurable Interest Sub-Committee of the Trust Law Committee of the Chicago Bar Association. He is a past chairman of the CBA’s Federal Taxation Committee as well as its Estate and Gift Taxation subcommittee and is a frequent speaker for the Illinois Institute of Continuing Legal Education and the Chicago Bar Association. Rob currently serves on the Judicial Evaluation Committee of the Chicago Bar Association. Rob has been selected as a Leading Lawyer and a Super Lawyer and was profiled in the Illinois Super Lawyers magazine.

Education:

• DePaul University, J.D., 1995
• Eastern New Mexico University, M.B.A., 1988
• State University of New York at Buffalo, B.A., 1980