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Attorneys

Emphasis in Estate Planning, Probate & Trust Administration, Tax Exempt Organizations, Business Structuring & Transactions, Real Estate Law, and Tax Law.

Drew Moore Gaertner J.D. LL.M

Partner

Emphasis in Tax Law, Estate Planning, Probate, Real Estate, and Commercial Law

Drew Moore Gaertner is a 5th generation Montanan. She received her undergraduate degree in Communication, with a minor in Sport Management, from the University of California, Santa Barbara, in 2008, where she graduated with honors and was a member of the national championship women's club soccer team.

Drew earned her J.D. from the University of Montana School of Law in 2015. During law school, she served as the president of the international legal honor society Phi Delta Phi, worked as a law clerk for the Honorable Ralph B. Kirscher during her clinical externship, and interned at a large local law firm. Following law school, Drew earned a Master of Laws in Taxation (LL.M.) from the University of Washington School of Law where she graduated with honors in 2016. While earning her LL.M., Drew was awarded the merit-based U.W. Tax Scholar scholarship and appointed a Hazelaton Fellow to assist law Professors in their scholarly work.

Drew joined McLean, Younkin & Willett, PLLC as an associate in 2016. Her practice emphasizes estate planning, probate & trust administrations, business structuring & transactions, taxation, and real estate.

When she’s not “lawyering,”Drew, her husband, and their two daughters enjoy skiing, camping, and spending time with family and friends.

Bar Admissions
Montana, 2015
U.S. District Court of the State of Montana, 2015
Community Involvement
BETTR Section (Current Chair)
Estate, Trust & Probate Committee of the BETTR Section
(Chair 2020-2023)

Andrew J. Willett, J.D.

Partner

Emphasis in Real Estate, Commercial Law, Estate Planning, and Probate

Andrew J. Willett, J.D. is a Montana native who earned his finance and economics undergraduate degree from the University of Montana in 1992. He worked in Denver, Colorado as a commercial loan officer for four years before graduating from the University of Denver College of Law in 1999. Following graduation, he worked for the law firm of Gorsuch Kirgis, LLP, in downtown Denver in the real estate department. He then served as in-house counsel for a multi-state private real estate lending company prior to moving back to Montana.

Andy joined the law firm of Drysdale, McLean & Willett, PLLP in 2003 and has been a partner since 2005. His practice focuses on all aspects of real estate, entity structuring, commercial transactional law, estate planning, and probate.

Andy serves as a Bozeman School District Board Trustee, coaches Bozeman Legion baseball, and enjoys skiing, hunting, and just about anything involving the great outdoors.

Eric W. Owens, J.D.

Emphasis in Tax Law, Estate Planning, Probate, Real Estate and Commercial Law

Eric W. Owens, J.D. was born and raised in Anchorage, Alaska. Eric grew up downhill skiing, playing basketball during the winter, and playing soccer, hiking, camping, and attending his parents' softball games during the summer. Eric attended West Anchorage High School from 2000 to 2004. After graduating high school, he attended Gonzaga University, where he cultivated his sometimes-unhealthy love for Gonzaga basketball. During his years at Gonzaga, Eric continued to ski downhill with friends as often as his studies would allow, and in the spring and fall, would make sojourns over to Montana to raft the Clark Fork.

After graduating from Gonzaga with a Bachelor of Business Administration in 2008 - a perfect time to enter the professional workforce - Eric went back to Alaska to work for a few years before deciding to return to school for a law degree. Going back to Montana was easy, and Eric began law school at the University of Montana School of Law in Missoula, MT, in 2012. Eric graduated from the University of Montana School of Law in 2015 with Juris Doctorate and an affinity for all things related to tax law; however, through happenstance, Eric began his legal career as a prosecutor on the hi-line as a Deputy County Attorney for the Blaine County Attorney's Office in Chinook, MT.

Eric worked at the Blaine County Attorney's Office for four years before moving to Missoula to work as a prosecutor for the Missoula County Attorney's Office. Eric worked at the Missoula County Attorney's Office for another two years before running into his old friend and law school classmate one fateful evening. In that right place and time, Eric was offered an opportunity to work in a tax-related field at Mclean, Younkin & Willett, PLLC, and eagerly jumped at the opportunity. Eric's practice at McLean, Younkin & Willett, PLLC includes taxation, estate planning, probate, trust administration, business transactions, and real estate.

Cindy E Younkin, J.D.

Retired

Cindy E Younkin grew up in the Gallatin Valley and attended Montana State University, obtaining a degree in Microbiology in 1982. She was a United States Peace Corps Volunteer in the Fiji Islands from 1984-1986. She attended law school at Lewis & Clark Law School in Portland, Oregon, was a summer intern for Chief Justice Jean Turnage in 1988, and earned her J.D. in 1989. After joining the Bozeman firm of Moore, O'Connell & Refling, PC, she concentrated her practice on everything involving property, from estate planning and probate to farm and ranch matters, water rights, and real estate transactions.

She was elected to the Montana House of Representatives and served from 1999 to 2004 as Majority Whip and Chair of the Natural Resources Committee. In 2009 she became a solo practitioner before forming McLean, Younkin & Willett, PLLC with Andy Willett. She emphasizes property law-related issues, focusing on Estate Planning and Probate and Farm/Ranch matters.

In her free time, Cindy is a private pilot and loves to fly her 1959 Cessna 182 over Montana and surrounding states, she has been an active member of the Gallatin Empire Lions Club since 1990 and "plays outdoors" in a variety of activities, mostly involving water and dirt.

James A. McLean, J.D.

Retired

James A. McLean, a graduate of the University of Montana in 1964 and the University of Montana School of Law in 1967, served as an officer in the Marine Corps Reserve beginning in 1968 until he left the service in 1974 at the rank of Captain, was a law clerk for the 1st Judicial District Court in Helena in 1967, and has served as the attorney for Madison Valley Bank and its branches since 1968. He served as a Deputy Public Defender for Gallatin County from 1968-1970. He served as President of the Gallatin County Bar Association from 1976-1977, on the State Bar Judicial Evaluation Committed in 1988, and on the Montana Aeronautics Board.

Mr. McLean's practice has focused on litigation in multiple areas, serving as chief legal counsel in numerous cases, whether argued before the bench, a jury or resolved prior to trial. He has had the honor and privilege of briefing and arguing before the Montana Supreme Court as well as before the U.S. District Court and 9th Circuit. He retired from the active practice of law in 2016 and acts as "Of Counsel" to the firm.

Staff

Laura S. Lloyd

Paralegal