Representative Litigation
Combining the expertise of our Trusts & Estates group with the courtroom experience of our litigation attorneys, our Trusts and Estates Litigation group provides clients with efficient resolutions of their trust and estate-related issues.
Estate Disputes
We are experienced in representing individuals, corporations and charitable organizations in a wide variety of estate-related disputes, including:
- Will Contests
- Lack of Capacity
- Undue Influence
- Guardianship-Related Disputes
- Duress
- Testamentary Capacity
- Creditor Demands
Fiduciary Disputes
We regularly represent individual beneficiaries and individual and corporate trustees in complex, trust-related disputes involving a variety of issues, including:
- Breach of Fiduciary Duty
- Breach of Trust Instruments
- State and Federal Securities Laws
- Accountings
- Trust Instrument Reformation
We have extensive experience litigating these issues on behalf of both plaintiffs and defendants.
Family-Owned/Closely Held Business Disputes
We have extensive experience representing both majority and minority shareholders in a variety of disputes involving control, governance, dissolution, succession-planning and other business conflicts that can arise in the context of a family business.
Tax-Related Disputes
Working with our Tax Controversy & Litigation team, we often represent individuals and fiduciaries in proceedings before the IRS, state departments of revenue, U.S. Tax Court and in state courts on matters related to trusts and estates, including:
- Estate and Gift Tax Related Litigation
- Offers in Compromise and Installment Agreements
- IRS Administrative Appeals Hearings
- Offshore Voluntary Disclosures
- Private Letter Rulings and other practice before the IRS National Office
Representative Matters
We represent both plaintiffs and defendants in a broad variety of trust and estate cases and we also help clients obtain clarifications from the taxing authorities through private letter rulings, technical advice memorandums and other means. Some of the matters we have been involved in include:
- Herbert V. Kohler, Jr., et al., v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue: Represented the Kohler estate in trial before U.S. Tax Court contesting IRS assertion that $60 million in taxes and penalties were owed. Tax Court concluded no additional taxes were due. (U.S. Tax Court)
- Represented a family trust in a breach of fiduciary duty claim against one of the beneficiaries who had unlawfully obtained title to a commercial office building and had appropriated several million dollars in rent. Obtained an arbitration award for return of the building and repayment of the rent.
- In re Burton J. McGlynn Revocable Trust. Obtained favorable judgment at trial in proceeding to reform trust agreement.
- Represented individual trustee in connection with a significant claim against the estate of a deceased predecessor trustee for breach of fiduciary duty due to self-dealing (predecessor trustee had made substantial loans of trust assets to failing companies who employed her during her lifetime). Representation resulted in a successful settlement of the claim given the assets available in the estate of the predecessor trustee.
- Negotiated settlement on behalf of professional fiduciary between multiple charitable beneficiaries (public and private schools) in connection with an ambiguous testamentary scholarship trust; settlement approved by Court.
- Successfully defended trustee in case alleging breaches of fiduciary duty. Achieved a finding of no liability following a week-long trial in Washington State Superior Court.
- Represented an estate in a federal tax audit, resulting in a complete victory against a challenge by the IRS, claiming more than $20 million of additional estate taxes on the theory that the estate was not entitled to a charitable deduction for assets passing to a private foundation.
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