Myers, Brier, & Kelly – Attorneys at Law

Robert T. Kelly, Jr. // Partner

Bob Kelly’s practice focuses on the legal and financial interests of individuals, closely held businesses and tax-exempt organizations. A significant part of his practice is devoted to tax-oriented commercial law, with an emphasis on business counseling (the acquisition and disposition of business interests, structuring business transactions, family business succession planning and corporate governance issues), estate planning and administration, estate and trust litigation and counseling tax-exempt organizations. He brings an innovative and practical approach to all phases of the client counseling process.

Bob’s experience as a Certified Public Accountant prior to practicing law gives him unique insight into the legal, financial and operational obstacles facing the Firm’s entrepreneurial clients. His extensive experience as a business advisor helps him to provide prompt, practical and creative problem-solving advice. As a court-appointed commercial law mediator, he has applied his dispute resolution skills to areas ranging from adversarial business division/dissolution cases to business valuation disputes to informal workouts. In the area of tax-exempt organizations and charitable giving, Bob’s experience with a variety of community-based organizations, private foundations, health care and educational institutions and social service providers affords an in-depth understanding of the increasingly complex and sophisticated charitable and philanthropic environment.

Bob serves as a Trustee of the Harry & Jeanette Weinberg Foundation of Baltimore, Maryland. He also serves as a Director of Citizens Savings Bank, an OTS-supervised bank headquartered in Clarks Summit, Pennsylvania (Audit Committee Chair; Asset/Liability Committee Member). He currently holds the position of Director and President of The Scranton Lackawanna Industrial Building Company (SLIBCO), the industrial development arm of the Greater Scranton Chamber of Commerce. He has written numerous articles on tax and estate planning, and has lectured at the local, state and national levels on topics of tax, business and estate planning. Bob has been honored by his peers every year since 2005 as one of Pennsylvania’s Super Lawyers.

FOCUS OF PRACTICE:

Corporate/Transactional Law; Tax & Business Planning; Tax-Exempt Organizations; Estate Planning & Administration; Probate Law; Estate/Trust Litigation; White Collar Criminal Defense (Tax); Elder Law.

BAR/PROFESSIONAL ADMISSIONS:

Pennsylvania/U.S. Tax Courts
C.P.A., Pennsylvania (inactive)

EDUCATION:

B.S., Economics: Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania (Sine Laude) (1983)
J.D., Villanova Law School (Magna Cum Laude; Order of the Coif) (1988)
LL.M., (Tax), Temple University School of Law (1990)

PRIOR PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:

C.P.A., Price Waterhouse, Manhattan/Washington, D.C. (1983-1985)
Associate, Morgan Lewis & Bockius, Philadelphia (1988-1991)

PROFESSIONAL/CIVIC:

Trustee, The Harry & Jeanette Weinberg Foundation, Baltimore, MD (2006-Present)
Director, Citizens Savings Bank, Clarks Summit, PA (1993-Present)
Director, Moses Taylor Health Care System, Scranton, PA (1996-2005)
Director/Treasurer, Greater Scranton Chamber of Commerce (1997-2005)
Director/President, Scranton Lackawanna Industrial Building Company (1999-Present)