Alex is an Attorney/CPA with over 50 years of practice experience. He is a graduate of the University of North Carolina School of Law and has dedicated his entire professional life to the practice of tax law and planning, business law and estate planning. Alex is also a leader in the world of Captive Insurance. He is a Founding Member of, and first Chairman of, the North Carolina Captive Insurance Association.
As an attorney, Alex concentrates his practice in advanced estate planning and asset protection techniques (domestic and foreign), trusts and probate, taxation, corporate and business law, with an emphasis on family limited partnerships/LLCs and captive insurance companies. He is also heavily involved in defending clients in audits and Tax Court proceedings. He was the first Board Certified Specialist in Estate Planning and Probate Law in Moore County (1987), making him one of the first to hold this designation in the State of North Carolina. Alex is a long-term member (over 30 years) of the North Carolina Bar Association Tax Council and served as Chairman from 1994-1995. He also serves as the Liaison to Other Professionals for the Tax Section.
PRACTICE AREAS: Advanced Estate Planning; Asset Protection Strategies; Captive Insurance Formation and Management: Taxation and Advanced Tax Planning; and Corporate and Business Law; Probate and Fiduciary Law
EDUCATION
- University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, School of Law, J.D., May 1973
- Western Carolina University, B.A., June 1970
BAR ADMISSIONS AND OTHER CERTIFICATIONS
- All North Carolina State Courts (1973)
- Certified Public Accountant (1975)
- United States Tax Court (1977)
- Federal District Court, Eastern, Middle, and Western Districts of North Carolina (1975)
- United States Supreme Court (2018)
- United Stated Court of Federal Claims (2021)
PROFESSIONAL ACCOMPLISHMENTS
- Member of the First Health Foundation Center Professional Advisory Council, Pinehurst NC.
- 30-year participant in Southeast Region Liaison (“SERL”) meeting with national level IRS personnel in Washington, DC.
- Helped pass North Carolina’s state of the art Captive Insurance Company law (accomplished in 2013).
- Worked to repeal NC Gift Tax (accomplished in 2009).
- Assisted in the establishment of a new, independent tax adjudication forum for NC taxpayers (accomplished in 2008).
- Member, Moore County Bar Association.
- Member of the North Carolina Bar Association including Estate Planning and Tax sections.
- Author or co-author of nearly 30 publications and presentations on estate planning, taxation, and captive insurance.
- Member of the NC Association of Certified Public Accountants.
- Member of American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.
PERSONAL ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Alex is an avid wine connoisseur and actively works with his wife Dianne at her Carthage wine shop, Watering Can Wines. They recently spent a month abroad in France touring the Loire Valley wineries and making connections as wholesalers for French vineyards and wineries to expand their wines to Moore County, NC. In addition to wine tasting, selling and working for Dianne, Alex is driving toward his credentials in being a sommelier and opening a wine school in Carthage. As a young and active 75 year old, Alex is an avid snorkeler and loves to travel to Key West to enjoy sun, sailing and beaches and still enjoys playing racquetball.