Although estate planning might not be the type of law one sees on TV, helping families while providing for his own motivates Andy Deaver to go to work every day.
“It’s person by person, family by family. It’s not grand and glorious,” he said. “It’s making this particular client’s life better. It’s taking weight off of their shoulders worrying about what’s going to happen after they’re done.”
As partner at Abrahams Kaslow & Cassman LLP, Deaver helps families plan for the next step and relieve them of the stress often associated with estate planning.
After receiving his bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Dordt University, Deaver did a few jobs that aligned with his degree before deciding to take the LSAT on a whim.
“It was really kind of a happenstance thing,” he said. “I wasn’t inspired to go to law school, didn’t have any kind of, you know, grand and glorious aspirations of politics or changing the world or, you know, helping the disenfranchised, and none of those kinds of things. It just seemed like the right fit.”
Deaver then attended Creighton University School of Law before starting his first job as an attorney at an Omaha firm.
“My first firm was a good place, but I had too wide of a practice,” he said. “I did all kinds of different things, and I was able to, from those, choose estate planning and estate administration, and then transition over to Abrahams Kaslow & Cassman LLP to kind of home in on those practices.”
Both the opportunity to help clients know that their families are taken care of, and the one-on-one personal approach was what led Deaver to estate planning specifically.
“It’s really an opportunity to help people get out in front of problems,” he said. “It’s not reactionary, it’s generally proactive and that you’re trying to assist them make a plan that we’re not going to use, probably for years. So, being able to sit down and help them think about taking care of their own families.”
Family Oriented
While most of Deaver’s job revolves around helping his clients be able to provide for their own families after they’re gone, he describes his main accomplishment as his ability to provide for his own family.
“Providing for my family is the biggest accomplishment that I think I have at this point,” he said. “You know, God blesses us, and I work hard and we’re in good shape. I take care of my clients and have a solid practice, but just being able to provide for my family is my biggest accomplishment.”
Helping to craft estate plans that fit specific needs and administering the estate after a family member passes is not an easy task. It has brought up daily challenges that Deaver has had to learn how to navigate through.
“Being an attorney is a lot about client management and trying to not be overwhelmed with everything,” he said. “Because all you do is deal with other people’s problems, right? And that’s the job, so that’s okay. But just going through that day to day and moving from one thing to the next. It sounds little, but that’s what the job is, and that’s the biggest challenge with the job.”
One way that Deaver has been able to overcome these challenges is by helping his clients feel comfortable and learning how to better interact with clients over the past nine years.
“I’m a pretty good, personable person. Working individually with people and being able to empathize with their situations and things that matter to them in a genuine way, has really enabled me to grow that portion of my practice,” he said. “People generally feel pretty comfortable when we sit down and work together. I think that’s great. That’s what I want for them.”
Through his work, Deaver hopes to continue to grow his practice and do good work for his clients as well as continuing to do good work for his family.
