I was born and raised in Lansing, Michigan. I studied linguistics and philosophy at Michigan State University, in East Lansing, and then attended Cooley Law School, in Lansing. After practicing law in Raleigh, North Carolina, and then working for the Michigan Court of Appeals, I moved to Illinois in 1992 to work as a legal editor for Lawyers Cooperative Publishing (later known as West Group).

In May of 2001, I became a writer/analyst for CCH Incorporated, located in Riverwoods, Illinois, a few miles north of Chicago, and right next to Deerfield, where I live. I write analyses for various tax-related publications and online material. My e-mail address at work is borstg@cch.nospam.com (Remove "nospam" from e-mail address before sending)