InterActive Legal

Michael L. Graham is Chairman of InterActive Legal and Practicing law with the Houser Firm in Dallas, Texas:

"I believe the work we are doing at InterActive Legal will last beyond my lifetime. Steve Jobs is quoted as saying that he wanted to “make a dent in the universe.” While InterActive Legal may not be Apple (yet), I understand Jobs’ desire to make a lasting impact.

We are at the threshold of massive change in almost every aspect of the practice of law. Technology, artificial intelligence, big data, and intelligence assistance are our daily fare. We understand our client’s need for a flexible, intuitive platform with absolute excellence in function and design. Our partnership with IBM Watson, and our development of an IBM Watson application for seniors, gives us a unique perspective on the future of the practice of law and it is thrilling.

Our commitment is to serve and is evident in everything we do. From personalized online training to specialized CLE to annual symposiums with blockbuster lineups, we serve those who serve. This commitment was established by our founder, Jonathan Blattmachr, and continues today at each and every level of our company.

Now I would like to add a bit of provenance to this biography. I have been continuously Board Certified in Estate Planning and Probate by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization for 40 years. At the tender age of 30, I became a full partner in one of the largest, most respected law firms in the US, Baker & Botts. I was honored by the invitation to become a Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel at age 34, and later to have been chosen to be an Academician of the International Academy of Trust and Estate Lawyers. I strongly believe that every lawyer must give back to the practice of law. I have served as Chair of the Texas Bar Association’s Real Property, Probate and Trust Law Section, the Houston Bar Association’s Probate Section, and the Dallas Bar Association’s Probate Section. Other professional contributions include Supervisory Council Member of the American Bar Association’s Real Property, Probate and Trust Law Section and President of the Texas Academy of Probate and Trust Lawyers.

It is my personal mission to provide excellence in the practice of law and best practices for other attorneys. I am fortunate to have the opportunity to work at and achieve these goals through my practice at the Houser Law Firm and at InterActive Legal. This calling, involving my personal practice of faith through the recognition, respect, and love of others, is my heritage and passion. In my current law practice, which coexists with my service to InterActive Legal, I limit my focus to matters involving business and estate planning, administration of estates and trusts, and fiduciary based litigation. I have practiced at both large, international firms and small boutique firms over the last 44 years. I received my J.D., cum laude, from Baylor School of Law (1972), and my BBA from Baylor University (1971). I loved law school, and I love the law."

Teresa Bush joined InterActive Legal in 2007 and serves as Director of Education and Support Services.

Ms. Bush has been licensed to practice law since 1991, and focused her practice exclusively on issues of estate and gift tax planning, probate, charitable planning, and estate and trust administration. She began her practice in a small law firm, planning for clients of all levels of wealth. Thereafter, she practiced for a number of years in the Tax Section of Kelly, Hart and Hallman, P.C. in Fort Worth, Texas, and as an estate and gift tax consultant for the Dallas office of Ernst & Young, in both cases focusing on planning for very high net worth clients.

Ms. Bush received her J.D. from the University of Texas School of Law, where she was a research assistant for Professor Stanley M. Johanson. She studied at Edinburgh University and the London School of Economics prior to obtaining a B.A. in Economics and Political Science from Rice University in Houston. While studying abroad, she worked as an intern for a Member of Parliament in the British House of Commons.

Ms. Bush taught legal research and writing as a Teaching Quizmaster in law school, and later taught estate planning extension courses for American College of Financial Services CLU candidates. She has presented several online webinars on estate planning and drafting topics, and is the author or co-author of a variety of estate planning articles.

Vanessa Kanaga currently serves as InterActive Legal’s Special Advisor on Estate Planning and Legal Strategy.  She is the former CEO of InterActive Legal. Vanessa received her J.D. from Cornell Law School and holds a B.A. in Philosophy from Wichita State University, as well as an Advanced Professional Certificate from New York University School of Law. She is licensed in New York, Kansas, and Arizona, and currently lives in Arizona.

Prior to joining InterActive Legal in 2013, Vanessa practiced in New York, at Milbank LLP and Moses & Singer LLP, and in Kansas, at Hinkle Law Firm, LLC. She has experience in a range of estate planning matters, including high net worth tax planning and asset protection planning.

In 2024, Vanessa returned to the practice of law.  She is Of Counsel at Becker and House, PLLC in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Elizabeth (“Beth”) Boehmcke joined InterActive Legal in 2018 and served as Director of Content Development until she retired in 2025.

She graduated cum laude from the University of Michigan Law School in 1993. After graduation from law school through 2003, she specialized in high net worth estate planning, with an emphasis on cross-border and asset protection planning, and the representation of fiduciaries managing complex trusts and family businesses.

During her career in New York, she was an associate attorney at both Rogers & Wells (now Clifford Chance) and Hodgson Russ in New York City. After a hiatus in her legal career to care for her children, she resumed her legal career by passing the Virginia bar in 2014 and began working for the Hook Law Center, P.C., where she expanded her estate planning practice to include elder law, specifically focusing on asset protection planning for Medicaid and Veteran’s benefits.

She is a proud graduate of the University of Virginia where she received a B.A. with distinction in Psychology in 1988 and is also a graduate of SUNY-Buffalo where she received an M.A. in Clinical Psychology in 1990.

Mr. Blattmachr is a Principal in ILS Management, LLC and a retired member of Milbank Tweed Hadley & McCloy LLP in New York, NY and of the Alaska, California and New York Bars. He is recognized as one of the most creative trusts and estates lawyers in the country and is listed in The Best Lawyers in America. He has written and lectured extensively on estate and trust taxation and charitable giving.

Mr. Blattmachr graduated from Columbia University School of Law cum laude, where he was recognized as a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar, and received his A.B. degree from Bucknell University, majoring in mathematics. He has served as a lecturer-in-law of the Columbia University School of Law and is an Adjunct Professor of Law at New York University Law School in its Masters in Tax Program (LLM). He is a former chairperson of the Trusts & Estates Law Section of the New York State Bar Association and of several committees of the American Bar Association. Mr. Blattmachr is a Fellow and a former Regent of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel and past chair of its Estate and Gift Tax Committee. He is author or co-author of eight books and more than 500 articles on estate planning and tax topics.

Among professional activities, which are too numerous to list, Mr. Blattmachr has served as an Advisor on The American Law Institute, Restatement of the Law, Trusts 3rd; and as a Fellow of The New York Bar Foundation and a member of the American Bar Foundation.

Letha Sgritta McDowell currently serves as InterActive Legal’s Director of Legal Strategy. Letha is an ACTEC Fellow and past president of NAELA, and practices law with The McDowell Law Group. She is licensed to practice in both North Carolina and Virginia and has been an elder law and special needs planning attorney for more than 15 Years. Letha is a Certified Elder Law Attorney, is Board Certified as a specialist in Elder Law by the North Carolina State Bar Board of Legal Specialization, and is accredited to prepare and prosecute claims with the Department of Veterans Affairs.

At InterActive Legal, Letha provides insight into how modern law firms run in order to assist in strategic decisions about how to maximize the tools provided by InterActive Legal, as well as what tools may be useful for practitioners in the future. In addition, Letha contributes to the elder law and special needs planning content in the software and to the InterActive Legal practice management and development tools.

Letha is a member of the Board of Directors for the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys and the North Carolina Bar Association’s Elder Law and Estate Planning Sections, serves as Vice President of the Elder Law Specialization Committee for the North Carolina State Bar, and serves as an active mentor to a number of young attorneys through the North Carolina Chapter of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys. She is a 2001 graduate of Purdue University and a 2004 graduate of the University of Maine School of Law.

Deirdre R. Wheatley-Liss divides her practice between representation of business owners and their businesses, counselling individuals and families, and advising non-profit entities. Ms. Wheatley-Liss counsels business owners on legal and structural issues related to start-up, financing, growth and exit strategy.  

As a tax attorney, she always keeps an eye on minimizing a business owner's "silent partner" – the IRS. She also advises on director and officer (D&O) liability issues, including business succession and break-ups. By creating the most efficient organizational structures and contractual arrangements during the infancy and growth of a business she has helped clients keep hundreds of thousands of dollars in their pockets upon the sale of the mature business.  

To educate both the public and the legal community about issues relating to business ownerships, Ms. Wheatley-Liss is a frequent lecturer to professionals and the public on topics related to start-up, intellectual property, employee and independent contractor issues, wealth transfer, tax minimization, business succession planning and cybersecurity.