Next week is the final deadline to sign up to take one of the October 2025 Legal Specialist Examinations that are administered by the State Bar of California. In advance of the October 1, 2025, final registration deadline, Trust on Trial caught up with Downey Brand Attorney Hannah Shakin to gain some of her insight
A question for you: do you have an estate plan? Of course you do, everyone needs an estate plan.
Second question: who is(are) the beneficiary(ies) of your estate plan? Someone you love and trust, I presume. Perhaps a spouse, or your children, or maybe even a worthy charity.
Follow-up questions: if your beneficiary is not
Hey everybody – it’s January! How was your New Year’s Eve? How did you celebrate? Did you go to a party? Did you host a party? Were there games at your party? What kind of games? Charades? Jenga? Maybe you went crazy and played Twister!
What did I do at my New Year’s Eve party?
Just prior to Christmas, I was lucky enough to be a guest on the latest episode of Trust Me!: the podcast presented by the Trusts and Estates Section of the California Lawyers Association, with Kristen Yokomoto, podcast host and Executive Committee Member of the CLA Trust and Estate Section (TEXCOM).
We had a great
Under universally accepted law, across every jurisdiction, lawyers owe vital and concrete duties to their clients. The duty of confidentiality. The duty of loyalty. The duty to disclose. And, greatest of all, the duty to inform your clients when their ideas are dumb.
Why is this last duty the greatest? Probably because it’s the most
The California Courts of Appeal are typically pretty stingy with their published opinions – only about 10% of Court of Appeal decisions are published in the Official Reports. And per Rule 8.1105 of the California Rules of Court, appellate decisions are supposed to be published only if they meet one of a certain set
Newcomers to probate litigation are frequently surprised by how differently things work in probate court, as opposed to your more straightforward civil courts. (And how do those newcomers know how civil courts work? Law & Order, I’m guessing.) For example, in civil litigation, a plaintiff will typically pursue claims for him or herself. It is very rare
Regular readers of this blog have already noted my particular enthusiasm for creativity in legal arguments. I am not a judge (Hi Judge Galvin!), but if I were, I would be sorely tempted to pattern my unique brand of judicating after gymnastics judges, who dutifully award points for artistry as well as execution.
And that’s
This blog has previously mentioned the most common question we hear when people find out we work in probate litigation: “What can I do to make sure my family doesn’t fight over my property after I die?” Because I am a Fundamentally Honest Person (FHP for short!), I usually tell them the truth: “Nothing, really.”
For centuries, serious legal scholars have debated what is possibly the most vital question of our times: in what ways, if any, does our judicial system differ from basketball? Now, thanks to the California Supreme Court’s recent decision in Haggerty v. Thornton (2024) 15 Cal.5th 729, we finally have an answer.
Longtime readers of