Meet Our Team
When you contact the Law Offices of John L. Laster, you reach a team of dedicated legal professionals prepared to assist you in all of your estate planning needs. Read on to learn about attorneys John L. Laster and Christopher L. Tomlin.
John L. Laster
John Laster is a lawyer licensed to practice in Virginia, Maryland, and the District of Columbia. He limits his practice to wealth transfer planning, trusts, wills, powers of attorney, healthcare decision issues, estate administration, estate taxes, elder law, and disability concerns.
An AV® PreeminentTM Peer Review RatedSM attorney by Martindale-Hubbell®, John is listed in The Best Lawyers in America and Virginia Super Lawyers.
He is an adjunct professor in Aging and the Law at Georgetown University Law School. He is also a frequent speaker for both lay and professional groups. A member of the D.C. Estate Planning Council, John has lectured for many institutions, government agencies, civic organizations, and professional associations. He annually teaches lawyers about planning for incapacity at a D.C. Bar Continuing Legal Education program. In addition, he has served as chair of the Committee on Special Needs Trusts and Long Term Care of the American Bar Association Section on Real Property, Trust and Estate Law. He is a founding member of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys and a charter member of the Academy for Special Needs Planning.
For more than 25 years, his clients have included seniors with grandchildren, "sandwich generation" caregivers, young parents with newborns, couples whose adult child has significant disabilities, individuals in non-traditional relationships, and single people. Some of his clients possess great material wealth; others do not. Some are motivated to preserve assets in a challenging wealth transfer tax environment. Others are primarily concerned with safeguarding the well-being of their dependents. Still others focus their energy on improving life on this planet through charitable means. All of his clients are united in having chosen to improve the future for someone other than themselves.
He participated in the 1994 Fordham University invitational conference to clarify ethical issues that arise in connection with representing seniors and the 2001 Stetson University invitational Wingspan conference to revisit issues of guardianship reform.
John serves on the board of directors of Community Living Alternatives, Inc., a Northern Virginia organization that serves the needs of persons with disabilities.
John graduated from Oberlin College and Catholic University. He is married to Barbara Laster, a reading professor. Together, they live in Northern Virginia with assorted family members—some who live there and some who just come to visit!
Practice areas
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Bar admissions
- District of Columbia, 1979
- Maryland, 1993
- Virginia, 1995
Education
- J.D., Catholic University, 1979
- A.B., Oberlin College, 1972
Memberships
- Maryland State Bar Association
- American Bar Association
- Committee on Special Needs Trusts and Long Term Care (Former Chair)
- Virginia State Bar
- District of Columbia Bar
- District of Columbia Estate Planning Council
- Community Living Alternatives, Inc. (Member, Board of Directors)
- National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (Founding Member)
- Academy of Special Needs Planners (Charter Member)
Christopher L. Tomlin
Chris Tomlin received his B.A. degree in Geography in 2002 from Mary Washington College in Fredericksburg, Virginia, and his J.D. degree in 2007 from the Columbus School of Law at Catholic University in Washington, D.C. He is admitted to practice law in Virginia and joined the firm in 2007.
Chris was born and raised in Northern Virginia, with the exception of three years spent in the San Juan Islands of the Pacific Northwest.
During law school, Chris participated in the Krakow International Business and Trade Summer Law Program, a cross-cultural exchange program sponsored by Catholic University. There he joined several dozen American law students as they studied alongside an equal number of Polish law students in the historic heart of Krakow, Poland.
Chris also spent a summer in his mother's hometown of Harrisonburg, Virginia, volunteering as a law clerk at Blue Ridge Legal Services, a legal aid clinic committed to providing legal assistance to low-income residents of the Shenandoah Valley.
Chris now lives in Denver, Colorado with his wife, Kera Tomlin. He spends much of his time telecommuting from his home office in Denver, but can also be found in-person at the Falls Church office from time to time.
Contact the Law Offices of John L. Laster today
Call us at (866) 319-7703 or contact us online to schedule a consultation. We look forward to speaking with you.
