Claire Hollis Forster

Claire Hollis Forster is originally from Chicago, Illinois. She graduated from Chicago-Kent College of Law with Honors in 2006. During law school, Ms. Forster served as Managing Editor of the Law Review, and became a certified court mediator through the Center for Conflict Resolution. Ms. Forster was admitted to the State Bar in Illinois in 2006, and to the State Bar of Michigan in 2014.

Before relocating to Michigan, Ms. Forster practiced law as an Associate at two premier, large law firms in Chicago, where she gained experience in secured transactions and litigation. During that time, she also successfully represented asylum seekers from Togo and Chad in the United States Immigration Court. In addition, while in Chicago, Ms. Forster served for four years as a judicial law clerk in the United States District Court, Northern District of Illinois, and as court-appointed counsel in the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, handling the appeal of a convicted criminal defendant.

Since moving to Michigan in 2015, Ms. Forster has concentrated her law practice on estate planning and administration. In her practice, Ms. Forster collaborates closely with fellow estate planning attorney at the firm, Jane Gootee Nelson, to make certain that all of the Firm’s estate planning clients receive assistance in a consistent, timely, and effective manner. Ms. Forster genuinely loves the relationships she establishes with her clients, and takes pride not only in meeting her clients’ estate planning goals, but also in helping her clients understand the estate planning process and their own, individualized estate plan.

In 2018, Ms. Forster earned a Certificate in Probate and Estate Planning from the Institute of Continuing Legal Education and the Probate and Estate Planning Section of the State Bar of Michigan. She graduated from the Leadership Little Traverse program that same year. In addition, she is a member of the Probate & Estate Planning and the Elder Law & Disability Rights Sections of the State Bar Association of Michigan. She is also an active member of the Emmet-Charlevoix Bar Association, the Estate Planning Council of Northern Michigan, and the Petoskey Regional Chamber of Commerce’s Government Relations Committee.