Kathleen Wrigley Pletsch

About Kathleen
Kathleen Wrigley Pletsch was born and raised in Decatur and joined Samuels Miller as an associate attorney in May 2023. In 2012, Kathleen graduated from Meridian High School in Macon, Illinois. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Millikin University in 2016, where she majored in Political Science and Spanish and graduated Summa Cum Laude. Kathleen attended the University of Illinois College of Law, where she graduated Magna Cum Laude with her Juris Doctorate in May 2019. She was admitted to practice law in Illinois by its Supreme Court in November of 2019 and is also admitted to the practice before the U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois.

Kathleen’s practice includes representing individuals and families with regard to wills, trusts, and estate planning, as well as trust and estate administration and litigation. Her real estate practice includes residential and farmland real estate transactions and litigation. Kathleen also represents landlords in drafting leases, advising with regard to landlord-tenant rights and responsibilities, and pursuing evictions. She also counsels private sector business clients on entity formation, ongoing operations, and business litigation. Kathleen worked as an attorney for a local municipal government, and subsequently has gained experience and knowledge in municipal law, including ongoing routine business, drafting and enforcing ordinances, and reviewing FOIA requests and issues regarding OMA.

Kathleen is a member of the Illinois State Bar Association and Central Illinois Estate Planning Council. Kathleen is a Board Director for the Decatur Bar Association. She previously served as a Trustee on the Decatur Public Library Board of Trustees and as President on the Decatur & Macon County Animal Shelter Foundation Board. She also serves as Vice President on the House Corporation Board for Tri Delta at Millikin University and is a member of the Tri Delta Decatur Alumnae Chapter. Kathleen lives in Decatur with her husband (Austin), their twins, and their dog Dozer.

Joshua J. Dubbelde

About Joshua
Joshua J. Dubbelde joined Samuels Miller in 2011 and became a partner with the firm in January 2017. He graduated with honors from the University of Illinois College of Law in 2011, having previously received a B.S. in Bioengineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2004. He is licensed to practice law in the State of Illinois and also admitted to practice before the U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois.

Joshua’s practice includes representing individuals and families with regard to wills, trusts, and estate planning; trust and estate administration and litigation; and residential and farm real estate transactions and litigation. His real estate practice includes zoning, easement, and nuisance dispute representation. Joshua also represents public sector municipal and local government bodies with ongoing routine business and with complex transactional matters; and he counsels private sector business clients on entity formation, ongoing operations, sales/mergers, and business litigation. He was selected in 2019, 2020, and 2021 as an Emerging Lawyer and in 2022 as a Leading Lawyer by Leading Lawyers Magazine.

Prior to law school, Joshua worked for approximately four years as a chemist and researcher for several large chemical and agricultural companies. Although his shift from scientist to attorney may be an uncommon one, he finds that the analytical and deductive skills necessary for both professions have allowed for a rewarding career change. Joshua sits on the Board of Directors of the Richland Community College Foundation; he previously served on the Board of Directors of Webster-Cantrell Hall and he is a Past President of the Central Illinois Estate Planning Council. He is a member of the Illinois State Bar Association and the Decatur Bar Association.

Scott E. Garwood

About Scott
Mr. Garwood joined Samuels Miller in 2002 upon graduation from law school. He became a partner in 2008.

Mr. Garwood was raised in Stonington, Illinois. While growing up, he worked for his family’s corn and soybean seed production company beginning at age 11. He graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a Bachelor’s Degree in Agriculture (high honors, 1999) and Juris Doctor (cum laude, 2002).

Mr. Garwood concentrates his practice primarily in the areas of business and commercial law, probate, wills, trusts and estate planning, real estate and municipal law. He represents buyers and sellers in asset purchase, stock purchase and merger transactions in the banking, retail, trucking, manufacturing, processing, and service industries. He assists clients with organizing and maintaining corporations, partnerships and limited liability companies. Mr. Garwood counsels executors, administrators and trustees in the administration of estates and trusts throughout Illinois and regularly prepares and files United States and Illinois Estate, Gift and Generation Skipping Transfer Tax Returns. He also works with citizen and non-citizen clients to develop and implement estate plans including drafting simple and complex wills, trust agreements, charitable foundations, and other arrangements. He has represented buyers and sellers of residential, commercial and agricultural real estate, including transactions involving Section 1031 exchanges. Mr. Garwood also serves as general counsel for the City of Macon and the Villages of Moweaqua and Stonington.

Mr. Garwood is a member of the Illinois and Decatur and Macon County Bar Associations and the Central Illinois Estate Planning Council (Past President). He has served on the Boards of Directors of numerous charitable entities and is currently a member of the Board of Directors of St. Teresa High School. He has also served on the Boards of Directors of a community bank and its holding company.

Mr. Garwood has been a speaker for the Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education, the Decatur SCORE Chapter 296 and Millikin University’s First Step FastTrac course.

Mr. Garwood lives in Mt. Zion with wife Amber, a Family Nurse Practitioner, and sons Owen, Alex and Gavin.