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About GMFD

Special Qualities of Our Firm

Excerpt from article, "Goodson, Manley, Forakis and Deloughery Advocates Preventive Law as One of the Weapons for Winning the Economic War," in Awards Banquet Program of Arizona Certified Life Underwriters:

"The attorneys and staff of Goodson, Manley, Forakis and Deloughery, PLC do not believe that the business and families of this country can afford the luxury of unnecessary income and estate taxes, probate court proceedings and lawsuits, and internecine fights among families and business associates.

Goodson, Manley, Forakis and Deloughery, PLC is a Phoenix based law firm which specializes in business, estate tax, and financial planning law. They provide businesses and families with advice and legal structures ­ wills, trusts, partnerships, corporations, pension plans, contracts and strategies for legal moves which reduce taxes, prevent or lessen the gravity of devastating events and generally protect families and businesses utilizing the concepts of preventive law. They serve as general counsel for families and businesses. After they initially "overhaul" a new client, they schedule "10,000 mile maintenance checks" to prevent the families and businesses from "breaking down" legally and financially.

This firm has been operating almost 40 years. They have second generation attorneys and are rapidly working on the third generation. The firm is committed to "legal leadership and service through many generations." The firm represents some of the largest families and family businesses in Arizona. Many clients travel from other states for advice in structuring their affairs. They use their case history experience within their firm to give educational seminars throughout the United States. They have developed innovative techniques which speed up and make more comprehensive their legal work: "team consensus planning" (the process of brainstorming with the clients and the entire financial planning team), "legal architecture" (reflecting complex structures with easily understood schematic drawings), and "legal surgery" (maintaining action item lists so no "instruments" are left in the "chest cavity").

John Goodson, the founder of the firm, advocates that the country at the present time is in the Gettysburg of an economic war with Asia and Europe. "Those of us who are advising American families and businesses have a critical role. We are our client¹s staff officers in this progressively harder fought economic war. We must promulgate the best advice in the areas of law, accounting, life insurance, property and casualty insurance, investment strategies, computerization, management techniques, personnel policies and psychological interaction between family members and business associates. Our American counterparts must have the finest counsel, products and assistance ­ intellectual vitamins for healthy financial growth. The members of the financial planning team must work together in creative harmony in the process of optimum client care. Business and families cannot prevail over their competitive Asian and European counterparts using Œconventional wisdom,¹ Œgood ole boy techniques,¹ or enjoy the advantages of geographical location or being Œthe first company on the block.¹ We as financial planning team members must be aggressive and innovative in order to prevent our clients from being bought out by an Asian and European combine."

The firm of Goodson, Manley, Forakis and Deloughery, PLC has a policy of generously sharing with other professionals in the financial planning field the knowledge they have acquired from their real-life client experimental laboratory."