Robert L. Manley
Bob was born in Alaska and has been practicing law here since 1976. He is a prolific writer and lecturer and has taught many continuing legal education seminars both in and outside of Alaska. He is an elected Fellow and former Alaska Chairman of the American College of Trust & Estate Counsel (www.actec.org), a select group of attorneys who are nationally recognized in the practice of estate planning, probate and trust law. He is also one of only two Alaskans elected as a Fellow of the American College of Tax Counsel (www.actconline.org), in recognition of his reputation and contributions in the field of tax law.
Bob is also active in drafting and promoting legislation to keep Alaska in the forefront of modern developments in estate planning and trust administration law. He was the primary drafter of Alaska’s laws governing modification of irrevocable trusts, the Alaska 529 College Savings plan and pre-mortem trust and will validation. He was also instrumental in drafting the Alaska Limited Liability Company legislation and secured the first IRS private letter ruling on conversion of a partnership into a LLC. He was intensely involved in the revisions to Alaska Trust Company laws and formed the first Private Trust Company established in Alaska.
PRACTICE DESCRIPTION
Bob’s practice focuses on business and estate planning and complex probate proceedings as well as healthcare and general business representation.
PROFESSIONAL AND COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES
• Alaska Bar Association
– Estate Planning and Probate Section, member
– Former Chairman of Executive Committee
• Advisory Committee to the Alaska Supreme Court on Probate Rules, Member
• American College of Tax Counsel: Fellow
• American College of Trust and Estate Counsel,
– Fellow and former State Chairman
LECTURES & FACULTY
• 33rd Annual Philip E. Heckerling Institute on Estate Planning
-Asset Protection and Dynasty Trust Venues: A World of Choices, Special Session 1999
• Alaska Bar Association
-Probate – Best Practices, 2009
-Fiduciary Litigation Issues, May 2001
-Sinfully Simple Wills Revisited, April 2001
-LLC Developments: Tax Classification & Changes to Alaska Statutes, 1997
-Limited Liability Companies, 1995
-Sinfully Simple Wills, 1993
-Basic Estate Planning, 1990
-Basic and Intermediate Will and Trust Drafting, 1988
-Bridge the Gap Program, 1986, 1988, and 1991
• American College of Trust and Estate Counsel
-Hot Topics: Non-Tax: Recent Developments in the Struggle to Win Your Trust (Hawaii), 1999
-Self-Settled Trusts and Estate Planning, Rocky Mountain Regional Meeting (Santa Fe), 1997
-Self-Settled Trusts and Estate Planning, Pacific Regional Meeting (Seattle), 1997
• Anchorage Estate Planning Council
-Legislative Updates, 2009
-Qualified State Tuition Plans Under I.R.C. Sec. 529, March 2001
-Limited Liability Company Developments, 1997
-Limited Liability Companies, 1996
-Common Mistakes in Estate Administration, 1988
• Alaska Institute of CPA’s
-Limited Liability Companies, 1995
-Special Problems in Fiduciary Income Taxation, 1994
-Using Trusts in Income Tax and Estate Tax Planning, 1993
-Estate Tax Returns and Post Mortem Planning, 1993
-Tax and Financial Aspects of Retirement, 1991
• ALI-ABA
-Estate Planning Techniques, 1999
-Advanced Estate Planning Techniques, 1994
• California Bar Association
-Annual Meeting of Tax Section: Asset Protection Trusts and Estate Planning 1998
• City University, Seattle, Washington (Distance Learning)
-Personal Financial Planning Program, CPT 505 Estate Planning, Summer Semester 2001, Income Tax and Employee Benefit courses, Spring Semester 2002
• Lorman
-LLCs: Advising Business Start-Ups and Larger Companies in Alaska, 2004
• National Business Institute
-Planning Opportunities with Living Trusts in Alaska, 1992
-Basic Probate in Alaska, 1988
-Estate Planning and Probate in Alaska: Beyond the Basics, 1986 & 1990 Tax Practitioner’s Institute
-Limited Liability Companies, 1994 & 1995
• Seattle Estate Planning Council
-Self-Settled Trusts and Estate Planning, 1997
• University of Denver College of Law
-3rd Biennial Advanced Elder Law Institute, Estate and Asset Protection Planning, 1998
• University of Alaska in Anchorage, College of Business and Public Policy
-Accounting 411 (Gift, Estate and Fiduciary Income Taxation), 3 credit course Spring Semester 2001
• University of Petroleum, Department of Business Administration, Beijing, China
-Visiting Professor, graduate course on business law, tax and international transactions, 1994
PUBLICATIONS
• Alaska Bar Rag
-The Simple Ancillary Non-Administration — Qualifications by Filing, January-February, 1992
-Key Probate Factors in Identifying Family, July-August, 1991
-The Emotional Landscape, May, 1991
• National Law Journal
-Trusts & Estates: Alaska Trusts, May 16, 1997 (co-author)
• Aspen Law & Business
-State Limited Liability Company & Partnership Laws, Alaska section (7 Volumes)
-State Limited Partnership Laws, Alaska section (5 Volumes)
EDUCATION
LL.M., Taxation, Boston University, 1992 (graduated first in full-time class)
J.D. with Distinction, University of North Dakota, 1975 (graduated first in class)
Order of the Coif
Editor in Chief, North Dakota Law Review, 1974-1975
B.S., Geology, University of Washington, 1970
HONORS AND AWARDS
Listed in Best Lawyers in America 1989 – present
Anchorage Trusts and Estates Lawyer of the Year 2011, 2015 and 2019 (Best Lawyers)
Anchorage Tax Law Lawyer of the Year 2014 (Best Lawyers)
Listed in Super Lawyers (limited to top 5% of lawyers)
Meritorious Service Award Japan Karate Association 1987
Outstanding Instructor Award, International Shotokan Karate Federation, Alaska Region 2009
INTERESTS
Outside of the office Bob’s interests and activities include hiking, mushroom picking, fossil hunting and martial arts where he has a second degree black belt in Shotokan Karate and a first degree black belt in Seitei Jōdō (Japanese short staff).