Early in his college days, Al Secor learned the hard way he’s not supposed to be an engineer. Accepting this simple fact cleared the way for him to become a tax attorney, which he seems to have been made to be.
Secor was born in Watertown, N.Y., a city on the edge of Lake Ontario notable only for its vulnerability to the massive snow storms that come off the water. He didn’t live there long, though, as his father moved the family several times for work before settling in Birmingham, Ala. Secor completed high school there, and then set off for Georgia Tech to become an engineer.
“They very quickly taught me I was not supposed to be an engineer,” Secor says in a nearly baritone, matter-of-fact voice.
Secor transferred to Emory University and became a history major, but that didn’t last long, either, because he wanted to avoid certain required liberal arts courses. When he discovered he could earn an accounting degree without being subjected to those classes, he was in. “I’m no math wizard, but I’m fairly good at it, and accounting fit my other abilities,” Secor says.
Secor owes his interest in tax law to an adjunct professor who made the material interesting. “I realized I didn’t want to be an accountant all of the time, so I decided to become a tax lawyer,” he says.
Secor started law school at Southern Methodist University, but didn’t take well to Texas, so he transferred back to Emory to complete his degree. In 1966, he moved to Chattanooga to work for “the old Stophel, Caldwell & Heggie.” A little over a year later, Secor put his work there on pause to earn a master’s degree in law and taxation at New York University. His education complete, he returned to Chattanooga for good.
He didn’t stay at Stophel Caldwell long, though. Four years later, he became part of a small firm, Duncan, Breazeale & Secor, where he did estate planning and corporate taxes. In 1982, Secor opened a solo practice in the Hardwick Hogshead Building. He lasted over ten years on his own before joining “the old Shumaker & Thompson” firm in 1993. Secor was there only two years before going in-house at American National. While there, he led the bank’s estate administration group for a time, and then moved to the private client advisor group. Thirteen years later, his prospects at American National were looking sketchy due to changes at the bank, so he cast a line to see if anyone else was interested in the services he could provide. CapitalMark was fairly new at the time, and was looking to start a wealth and trust group, so Secor joined the team. He’s been with them ever since.
As the director of trust services at CapitalMark, Secor has been helping to develop the bank’s personal trust department. He says the work is a good fit for him.
“I enjoy helping people in an area in which most people are not knowledgeable,” he says. “There’s a lot of complexity, and all kinds of issues come up when someone dies and it’s time to divvy up the pot.”
Secor says one of the hardest parts of his job is getting his clients to give him all of the necessary information. “Once I know what you own and how you own it, putting a plan together is easy,” he says.
He’s also not a fan of delivering bad news. “Sometimes you have to tell people there isn’t anything for them, or a fund wasn’t as big as they thought it was,” he says.
His least favorite thing, though, is conflict – something he can’t always avoid. “People will fight over amazing things,” he says. “When I was in private practice, I was involved in cases in which people spent more money fighting over personal property than the property was worth.”
It’s understandable, then, that Secor is an advocate of avoiding controversy through planning. He enjoys being a part of that process. “In most cases, I can help folks get their ducks in a row, and then when someone dies, deal with any issues,” he says. “You can’t always make everyone happy, but I’ve been at this long enough to tell you what the rules are.”
In every case, Secor says applying the law is his most important task: “My first obligation is to make sure everyone understands the law, and where the law says each asset should go.”
Over the years, Secor has acquired enough knowledge to make him very effective at his job. His vast understanding of tax law has also put him in a position to pass on what he knows to others. To this end, he’s the author of “Tennessee Probate,” a book that guides lawyers and legal assistants through the complex administration of a decedent’s estate, and co-author of “Tennessee Elder Law,” a book that assists attorneys with all aspects of aiding clients in preparation for growing older. “It’s geared toward lawyers,” he says of the latter tome. “You’re not going to brew a cup of coffee and sit down to read it.”
Secor has also taught classes at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and Cleveland State Community College on an array of subjects related to his field of expertise.
Currently, Secor is chair of the Tennessee Probate Study Group, a group of tax and probate lawyers he co-founded that “keeps an eye on Tennessee law.” He says the group has helped to pass most of the laws in Tennessee related to estates, trusts, and wills. “We’ve kept Tennessee on the cutting edge of those areas, and tried to make the law reasonably streamlined while still providing the appropriate protections,” he says. “Over the years, the legislature has learned that our group knows what it’s doing, so we get most of what we want passed.”
Secor is also a member of the Chattanooga, Tennessee, and American Bar Associations, and a Fellow in the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel. He also does pro bono work for Legal Aid of East Tennessee.
Although Secor might seem to be the kind of attorney who’s all work and no play, that wouldn’t be true. He and his wife, Gail, enjoy eating out and going to the beach.
Looking back at what Secor has accomplished for his clients and profession, his days at Georgia Tech studying to be an engineer hardly seem like wasted time. Sometimes, becoming what are you best able to be involves going down a wrong path or two. Secor eventually found his way onto the right path for him – to his enjoyment in life and to the benefit of those who have relied on his help during what can be a challenging and difficult time.