About Our Bequest
Management Practice

J. Scott Kilpatrick

Scott is a Founding Partner of CCK.  He is a seasoned trial attorney and his practice focuses on civil litigation, including insurance disputes and general litigation.   Scott has successfully litigated hundreds of complex and high stakes damages cases.  His diverse experience base serves as an advantage for the firm’s clients in a broad range of matters, including insurance, business, and disputes over wills, trusts and other instruments.

Linden K. Nash

Linden (“Lindy”) is the Senior Bequest Attorney in the Bequest Management practice at Chisholm Chisholm & Kilpatrick. Her practice focuses on representing national charities and non-profit organizations in fulfilling the wishes of their charitable donors while maximizing gifts and minimizing any administrative burden.

Lindy graduated in 2011 from Connecticut College where she earned a B.A. in both Psychology and Sociology. She then attended Suffolk University Law School and received her J.D. in 2015. During law school, she served as the Chief Competition Director of the Moot Court Honor Board and was a staff member of the Suffolk Journal of Trial & Appellate Advocacy. Lindy completed legal internships with the Honorable Haiganush R. Bedrosian (Ret.), Chief Justice of the Rhode Island Family Court; the Rhode Island Attorney General’s Office; as well as a summer with a small civil litigation firm in Boston. Prior to joining Chisholm Chisholm & Kilpatrick, she served as a Judicial Law Clerk in the Rhode Island Supreme Court Law Clerk Department where she assisted the Justices of the Rhode Island Superior Court.

Christopher J. Clay

Christopher J. Clay, J.D., Ph.D joined CCK as in November of 2020 as Of Counsel, bringing a wealth of non-profit legal knowledge and experience. His addition to the CCK team brings a depth of legal and practical advice and service for CCK’s non-profit clients.

Chris graduated magna cum laude from Fordham University in 1973. He was subsequently awarded a Teaching Fellowship in the Philosophy Department at Fordham, where he earned his M.A. (1977) and Ph.D (cum laude, 1978). He received his J.D. cum laude from Georgetown University Law Center in 1984.

Cathy A. Derrig

Cathy has served in many capacities over the course of her 36 years at CCK. She has mastered each area in which she has served, and built, trained, and lead teams throughout CCK. She currently serves as the Bequest Administration Manager, overseeing the administration and systems of CCK’s Bequest Management practice.

Prior to her role as the Bequest Administration Manager, Cathy oversaw the operation of almost every non-legal aspect of the firm during her long tenure as CCK’s Office Manager.  Her vast knowledge of all things CCK brings an unmatched level of understanding and insight to all projects with which she is involved. She oversees active and expert management of CCK’s Bequest Management caseload, ensuring prompt, systematic collection, documenting, and entry into our case management database, so that cases can be managed accurately and consistently in accordance with our non-profit clients’ protocols. Cathy also oversees the development of each client’s custom dashboard experience providing access to their bequest caseload, and the ability to run status reports and projections with nearly real-time precision.

Samantha M. Corso

Samantha joined CCK in May 2019 as a paralegal in the Bequest Management practice. With over 10 years of experience in estate planning and probate administration, Samantha helps to collect, organize, and analyze documents relating to estates and trusts and facilitate bequest management solutions for clients.

Samantha graduated from the Community College of Rhode Island with an associate degree in Paralegal Studies. Prior to joining CCK, Samantha worked at two boutique Elder Law firms in southeastern Massachusetts.

Melanie R. Souto

Melanie joined CCK in June 2016 as a Litigation Paralegal before joining the Bequest Management team in September 2020. As a Bequest Case Manager, Melanie is part of a team of legal and administrative professionals working to acquire, organize, and analyze gift documents and facilitate bequest management solutions for non-profits and charities nationwide.

Melanie graduated magna cum laude from the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth in May 2016. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in History, along with minors in Political Science and Religious Studies. While at UMass Dartmouth, Melanie was a member of the Commonwealth Honors Program and graduated as a Commonwealth Scholar.