Frees, Brian

Michael T. Cyrs, a partner in the firm, concentrates his practice in Estate and Business Succession Planning and Administration, Tax-Exempt Organizations, Business and Corporate Law. He practices out of the firm's Rockford office and is licensed in Wisconsin and Illinois. Mike also has attained and maintains national certification as a Certified Financial Planner.

Mike is a member of the American Bar Association, the Wisconsin Bar Association, the Illinois Bar Association, and the Winnebago County Bar Association. He is also a member of the Estate Section and the Business and Tax Section of the Winnebago County Bar Association and is an ongoing participant in the Northern Illinois Estate Planning Council. In the past, Mike has served as both Chairman of the Winnebago County Bar Association's Business and Tax Section, as well as Treasurer of the Winnebago County Bar Association. Mike has served several terms as a member of the Trusts and Estates Section Council of the Illinois State Bar Association, a group responsible for improving current Illinois laws and coordinating new legislation governing the Illinois Probate Act, the Illinois Trust and Trustees Act, the Illinois Estate Tax structure, and similar estate legislation.

Mike has served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Northern Illinois Leave a Legacy Association, Rockford Gateway Association, the University of Notre Dame Rockford Club, and the Winnebago County Bar Association.

Mike recently was named by the national publication Worth Magazine as one of the top estate planning attorneys in the nation, and has been named by fellow attorneys as one of the top attorneys in the state of Illinois in the fields of trusts and estates, and frequently lectures in the areas of estate and business succession planning on behalf of local organizations and charities.

Areas of significant specialization include family wealth transfers in highly taxable estates, design and implementation of charitable remainder and lead trusts, qualified personal residence trusts, family limited partnerships, family foundations, irrevocable insurance trusts, and the organization and operation of charitable trusts and foundations.