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The Attorney's Advisor Team with client

One team.
One exclusive
focus.

The Attorney's Advisor Team at Consolidated Planning is built exclusively around the financial lives of attorneys and business owners — at every stage of their career.

The Attorney's Advisor Team is our practice at Consolidated Planning.

We are financial advisors with an exclusive focus on attorneys and law firm owners. Not generalists who work with some attorneys. Our entire practice is built around the financial challenges, career dynamics, and wealth-building opportunities unique to the legal profession.

We built this practice because attorneys have a specific and complicated financial life that generic financial planning almost never addresses correctly. The student debt, income trajectory, career risk, tax situation, and business dynamics in law require advisors who have spent serious time understanding how it all works.

Whether you are an early associate, a mid-career attorney approaching a key decision, a partner managing equity compensation, or a firm owner planning an exit — this practice exists to serve you.

Guardian and its subsidiaries do not issue or advise with regard to student loans.

BigLaw Attorneys

High income, high complexity, and a compensation structure that rewards attorneys who have a system from day one. Bonus volatility, lateral economics, and partnership probability all require deliberate planning.

Small and Mid-Size Firm Attorneys

Different income profile, different benefit structures, and often a path to equity ownership. Planning here requires flexibility and a clear view of what partnership means financially.

Government and Public Interest Attorneys

PSLF strategy, income-driven repayment, and a compensation structure that demands a different approach to wealth building. The opportunities here are real and frequently underutilized.

Law Firm Owners & Business Owners

Enterprise valuation, exit strategy, buy-sell planning, and post-liquidity wealth management. This is where our CEPA experience and business planning depth come to bear.

Qualified to handle the full picture.

The Attorney's Advisor Team at Consolidated Planning. Our shared focus on attorneys and business owners is what sets our practice apart from generalist firms.

Series 7

General Securities Representative. Licensed to offer the full range of securities products and investment strategies. Held by both Joel and Stuart.

Series 66

Uniform Combined State Law Examination. Investment advisor representative and securities agent licensure. Held by both Joel and Stuart.

Life & Disability Insurance

Licensed to provide life insurance, long-term disability income protection, and long-term care solutions. Held by both Joel and Stuart.

Business planning. Exit strategy.
Built around your life's work.

Joel Gardner

Joel Gardner

Financial Advisor  |  RICP®  &  CEPA®

Originally from Maryland, right outside of our Nation's Capital, Joel has been in the Carolinas since 2006. He earned a Bachelor's Degree in Sport and Entertainment Management from the University of South Carolina, as well as a post-baccalaureate certificate in accounting from Furman University.

Joel has been in the financial services industry since 2014. He holds the Retirement Income Certified Professional (RICP®) designation and the Certified Exit Planning Advisor (CEPA®) designation. His passion is helping small business owners and their employees build a plan to protect and grow their wealth while teaching strategies to exit their businesses and careers.

He takes great pride in helping clients stress-test various scenarios before making decisions. Most often clients engage with him when they are preparing for a major transition — starting a new job, sending children to college, growing a business to be passed on or sold, or gaining clarity around what retirement can look like.

Outside of working with clients, Joel loves spending time with his college sweetheart Natalie and their four children (Braxton, Markley, Essie, and Judah). He is a lifelong soccer player and enjoys watching most sports, especially when his beloved South Carolina Gamecocks are involved. Joel and Natalie are active members at Hope of Israel congregation in Charlotte, NC, where he serves in many capacities. In all he does, he seeks to love others as he has been loved by God.

Strategy. Precision.
Your financial life.

Stuart Thomas

Stuart Thomas

Financial Advisor US Army Intelligence Veteran

Before financial advising, Stuart served approximately six years in the United States Army as an Intelligence Analyst, stationed across America including Hawaii. He enlisted straight out of high school and trained to make sense of complex, high-stakes situations under pressure. That same discipline shapes how he approaches financial planning for attorneys.

Stuart built his focus on associates and mid-career attorneys because he understands what it costs to get where they are — the hours, the debt, the standard required just to stay in the game. He brings a systematic, precision-oriented approach to building financial structures that grow with an attorney's career.

Outside of the practice, Stuart has a lifelong passion for fitness and philosophy, instilled by an incredible family. He is currently writing a book and developing an analytics software platform focused on macro-economic investing, wealth management, and intelligence analysis. He holds Series 7 and Series 66 licenses, as well as Life and Disability Insurance licensing.

Work With Our Team

A directional conversation
about where you are and where
you want to go.

The intro call is 30 minutes. Ask every question you have. Gain clarity on whether this is the right fit for you.

Schedule with Stuart Schedule with Joel Stuart's LinkedIn Joel's LinkedIn