ABA Journal

Trusts & Estates

613 ABA Journal Trusts & Estates articles.

Former elder law attorney pleads guilty to fraud, could face 30-year sentence

A former elder law attorney from Lynchburg, Virginia, pleaded guilty on Friday to wire fraud and making false statements.

Legal malpractice payouts are the highest on record, insurance broker reports

Payouts for legal malpractice claims are at an all-time high, according to a new survey by insurance broker Ames & Gough. Ames & Gough surveyed 11 leading legal malpractice insurers about claims paid from 2019 to the middle of 2020.

Top state court deadlocks on fiduciary exception to attorney-client privilege in K&L Gates case

A deadlocked Pennsylvania Supreme Court was unable to decide last week whether trust beneficiaries are entitled to legal billing statements and other lawyer communications with the trustee under a fiduciary exemption to attorney-client privilege.

Afternoon Briefs: Judge orders negotiation on ‘race-norming’ claim in NFL case; judiciary considers amicus disclosure

Judge tosses challenge to ‘race-norming’ in dementia tests

U.S. District Judge Anita Brody of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania has dismissed a lawsuit challenging “race-norming” in dementia tests used to…

How Jim Crow-era laws still tear families from their homes

Heirs’ property is considered a vestige of the Jim Crow South, where unsophisticated property owners without the means or ability to hire a lawyer—or with a justifiable distrust of the courts—divvied up their assets informally, creating “interests” for descendants.

Suspension imposed after appeals judge is accused of making himself a beneficiary of ex-client’s will

The Georgia Supreme Court has suspended a state appeals judge with pay during an ethics investigation.

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, legal services providers find creative ways to serve older adults

Many legal services providers have worked in the past year to change how they reach and assist their clients, particularly those who are older and at higher risk for developing more severe cases of COVID-19. While some created or expanded their partnerships with community organizations, others moved their services online or outdoors.

5 ways to do more pro bono in 2021

For attorneys who want to do more pro bono in 2021, here are five ways to get involved.

Sanctions upheld for lawyer who included an original haiku in filing and cited Bugs Bunny

A federal appeals court has upheld sanctions imposed on a lawyer who filed “lengthy and superfluous filings” in a dispute with his brother, including a brief that was “littered with exclamation points and rants.”

Years of service: Mark Daniel Maloney reflects on journey with Rotary International

“It is an opportunity to connect while you are doing good in the world,” says Mark Daniel Maloney, a member of Blackburn, Maloney and Schuppert and now the immediate past president of Rotary International. “It is wonderful to be a volunteer, but you go in and you perform the service, and you leave.”

Lawyer accused of spitting on protester, shoving another and kneeing officer in groin

A Wisconsin lawyer was arrested twice over the weekend for allegedly spitting on a protester, shoving another and kneeing a police officer in the groin.

Lawyer accused of stealing estate money for wife’s breast implants, child support gets interim suspension

An Ohio lawyer has been placed on interim suspension after he was accused of stealing millions of dollars from a number of estates and trusts, including an estate that was intended to benefit the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

Lawyers address problems with estate-planning document signing during coronavirus crisis

Many lawyers across the country are now using online video meetings to help senior clients arrange their affairs. This has become increasingly vital as the CDC warns that individuals who are age 65 or older and have underlying medical conditions are at higher risk for developing more severe cases of COVID-19.

Privilege doesn’t protect law firm’s client information from IRS summons, 5th Circuit says

A Texas law firm has to comply with an Internal Revenue Service summons seeking information about any clients that created overseas accounts and entities, according to a federal appeals court.

Texas abortion providers withdraw Supreme Court petition after new 5th Circuit decision

Abortion providers in Texas have withdrawn a Supreme Court application to allow medication abortions to continue in the state after a federal appeals court granted the relief that they sought.

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