Practice Area Corner Archives

How to Protect Your Beneficiaries from Their Creditors

When creating trusts, estate planning lawyers use tricks of the trade such as “spendthrift” and “shutdown” clauses to protect trust money from claims of the creditors of beneficiaries. But on appeal, the court showed Cynthia Vedder that there are exceptions…

Tax Attorney Assists Low-Income Clients With Complex Issues

The Justice & Diversity Center (JDC) would like to thank Volunteer of the Month, Henry Cheng of DLA Piper. Cheng represents clients in tax controversy matters through JDC’s Low Income Taxpayer Clinic, handling full scope and limited scope matters through…

What’s the Difference Between Domestic and International ADR?

How does international Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) differ from domestic ADR? While domestic ADR provides an alternative to a court disposition, often times in international ADR, there is no ready court or law to turn to. Thus, ADR is even…

Share Your Voice and Passion by Joining the Paralegal Section

In January 2015, The Bar Association of San Francisco launched its first non attorney section with a mission to instill an ethos of professionalism in all legal paraprofessionals, which includes but are not limited to paralegals, legal assistants, legal nurse…

With a Little Bit of Patience, Slash’s Wife Looks to Win Divorce Argument

Guns N’ Roses lead guitarist Slash has initiated divorce proceedings from his wife, Perla Hudson, for the third time in six years, and this time it looks like “Civil War.” Slash is accusing Hudson of being a bigamist and claiming…

Nationally-Recognized Legal Tech Trainer and Local Judge/Former Solo Attorney to Keynote Solo and Small Firm Conference in February

Come one, come all! Attend the Solo & Small Firm Section’s first Annual Conference at BASF on February 9, 2017, from 11:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. The Solo & Small Firm Section represents thousands of attorneys in the community,…

An Estate and Trust Attorney’s Prediction: Estate Tax Will be Repealed in 2017

The federal estate tax is a tax on the date of death value of a person’s assets in excess of about $5.5 million. It is designed to redistribute wealth. Donald Trump promised significant tax reduction and repeal of the federal…

Volunteering With the Justice & Diversity Center Gave Solo Attorney Her Start

The experience I gained while volunteering with the Justice & Diversity Center (JDC) gave me a valuable start to my practice. Before attending law school, I was a commercial real estate appraiser. Although I could have done transactional work, I…

Are You Applying the Right Strategy to Settle Your Case?

Whether you are an experienced or more junior lawyer, are you applying the right techniques for settling your client’s case? First and foremost, make sure you have a professional rapport with opposing counsel and parties that encourages communication. Without that,…