Overlawyered » wills and trusts http://overlawyered.com Chronicling the high cost of our legal system Tue, 14 Feb 2012 18:22:52 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 en hourly 1 Connecticut: court-appointed probate lawyers seek immunity http://overlawyered.com/2011/10/connecticut-court-appointed-probate-lawyers-seek-immunity/ http://overlawyered.com/2011/10/connecticut-court-appointed-probate-lawyers-seek-immunity/#comments Tue, 25 Oct 2011 15:10:16 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=25269 The Connecticut Supreme Court is being asked to rule that lawyers and conservators appointed by probate judges are immune from being sued by those they represent. The case arose “because of the abuse that Daniel Gross, an elderly New York man, suffered during 2005 and 2006 at the hands of a Waterbury probate court after he became sick while visiting his daughter.” Gross was placed in a nursing home on conservator’s orders, a decision eventually reversed by a court. [Rick Green, Hartford Courant]

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]]> http://overlawyered.com/2011/10/connecticut-court-appointed-probate-lawyers-seek-immunity/feed/ 1 October 9 roundup http://overlawyered.com/2010/10/october-9-roundup-2/ http://overlawyered.com/2010/10/october-9-roundup-2/#comments Sat, 09 Oct 2010 12:14:42 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=19614
  • Update: “Tax Panel Rejects Lawyer’s Bid to Deduct Spending for Sex” [NYLJ, William Barrett/Forbes, earlier] And: “Musings on laws affecting adult entertainment, alcoholic beverages and other ‘vice’ industries” [Meeting the Sin Laws blog]
  • Mississippi: judge jails lawyer for not saying Pledge of Allegiance [Freeland]
  • More on much-written-about Israeli “rape by fraud” case [Volokh, more, earlier here and here]
  • “Tribune bankruptcy talks complicated by emergence of pugnacious hedge fund” [Romenesko; earlier on involvement of hedge funds in bankruptcies]
  • More disturbing tales from Connecticut probate court [Rick Green, Hartford Courant, earlier]
  • Marc Williams of the Defense Research Institute responds to Ted Frank’s criticism of many defense lawyers [PoL]
  • Advice for Australians: to fix your litigation system, look to Germany’s success [Ackland, Sydney Morning Herald]
  • Rep. John Hall (D-N.Y.) & ’70s band Orleans threaten suit against GOP remix ["Orleans Reunion Tour"]
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    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2010/10/october-9-roundup-2/feed/ 0     Probate poser in Arizona http://overlawyered.com/2010/04/probate-poser-in-arizona/ http://overlawyered.com/2010/04/probate-poser-in-arizona/#comments Thu, 15 Apr 2010 14:20:15 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=16955 Marie Long, now 88, was “worth $1.3 million when she [suffered a stroke and] came under the protection of Maricopa County’s probate court in 2005. Today, she’s destitute and depends on taxpayers for support.” Where’d the money go? [Laurie Roberts, Arizona Republic and more via ABA Journal] But see: A different view of the affair [Phoenix New Times via ABA Journal]

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    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2010/04/probate-poser-in-arizona/feed/ 5     February 6 roundup http://overlawyered.com/2010/02/february-6-roundup-2/ http://overlawyered.com/2010/02/february-6-roundup-2/#comments Sat, 06 Feb 2010 14:33:34 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=15971
  • Wronged wife loses suit under California “Drug Dealer Liability Act” (DDLA) against mistress who supplied crack cocaine to husband [OnPoint News]
  • “D.C. Circuit to Former Judge in Pants Lawsuit: Follow the Rules” [NLJ, more, earlier]
  • “Law firm demands retailer destroy all copies of Olivia Munn comic, retailer refuses” [BoingBoing, HeavyInk, earlier on TJIC]
  • Can’t find jury for tobacco trial: “Lawyers excused a woman who said people have no right to sue over diseases that are disclosed on the warning label of a package.” [Russell Jackson, Chamber-backed W.V. Record]
  • Despite widespread misconception to the contrary, editing comments generally does not open blogger to liability over what remains [Citizen Media Law]
  • To heck with HIPAA, introduce your patients to each other if you think they’ll get along [Musings of a Dinosaur]
  • Devoted daughter vs. RSPCA: epic will contest in Britain over family farm bequest [Times Online]
  • Woman found guilty after planting dead rat in meal at upscale restaurant [Appleton Post-Crescent via Lowering the Bar and Obscure Store]
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    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2010/02/february-6-roundup-2/feed/ 0     K&L Gates blasted for high fees, “unnecessary lawyering” http://overlawyered.com/2010/01/kl-gates-blasted-for-high-fees-unnecessary-lawyering/ http://overlawyered.com/2010/01/kl-gates-blasted-for-high-fees-unnecessary-lawyering/#comments Fri, 29 Jan 2010 05:25:32 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=15808 Massachusetts’s highest court thought it a bit much that fees and costs would eat up $800,000 from an estate valued at $1.2 million, or two-thirds of the value at stake. [Robert Ambrogi, Legal Blog Watch; Above the Law]

    Incidentally, Robert Ambrogi is hanging up his keyboard after an impressive four-year tenure at Law.com’s Legal Blog Watch, but he’ll continue to maintain his other sites. He has kind words for this site as one to “follow religiously”, too.

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    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2010/01/kl-gates-blasted-for-high-fees-unnecessary-lawyering/feed/ 2     Brooklyn: “Disbarred Attorney Pleads Guilty to Guardian Account Thefts” http://overlawyered.com/2009/11/brooklyn-disbarred-attorney-pleads-guilty-to-guardian-account-thefts/ http://overlawyered.com/2009/11/brooklyn-disbarred-attorney-pleads-guilty-to-guardian-account-thefts/#comments Fri, 06 Nov 2009 15:08:12 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=14615 “A former Brooklyn, N.Y., lawyer has pleaded guilty to fleecing millions of dollars from guardianship accounts he oversaw for incapacitated seniors and children. … at least 16 court examiners who oversaw Rondos [Steven T. Rondos] had signed off on his reports without detecting any red flags.” [NYLJ]

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    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2009/11/brooklyn-disbarred-attorney-pleads-guilty-to-guardian-account-thefts/feed/ 3     John Langbein on new Connecticut probate reform http://overlawyered.com/2009/10/john-langbein-on-new-connecticut-probate-reform/ http://overlawyered.com/2009/10/john-langbein-on-new-connecticut-probate-reform/#comments Tue, 13 Oct 2009 11:16:52 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=14176 The Yale law professor, a longtime advocate of probate-court reform, says the Nutmeg State’s recent legislation falls well short of what’s needed; he’s particularly critical of lawmakers’ decision to let probate judges go on carrying on their own law practices on the side. [Hartford Courant via Estate of Denial]

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    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2009/10/john-langbein-on-new-connecticut-probate-reform/feed/ 0     A legal scramble over Michael Jackson’s estate? http://overlawyered.com/2009/06/a-legal-scramble-over-michael-jacksons-estate/ http://overlawyered.com/2009/06/a-legal-scramble-over-michael-jacksons-estate/#comments Fri, 26 Jun 2009 12:22:22 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=11959 The headline at Business Insider puts it more rudely than that. Business Week notes that “The singer faced a near-constant drumbeat of legal troubles in life. He’ll likely cue up plenty of them in death as well.” More: WSJ Law Blog; Eric Turkewitz with an early analysis of the medical and pharmacist liability possibilities.

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    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2009/06/a-legal-scramble-over-michael-jacksons-estate/feed/ 2     Connecticut passes probate court reform http://overlawyered.com/2009/06/connecticut-passes-probate-court-reform/ http://overlawyered.com/2009/06/connecticut-passes-probate-court-reform/#comments Sat, 13 Jun 2009 11:44:39 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=11721 Gov. Jodi Rell has signed legislation reorganizing the long-criticized system, which handles child custody matters and conservatorships as well as wills and estates; Hartford Courant columnist Rick Green had made the cause a crusade with horror stories. More: Connecticut Law Tribune (cross-posted from Point of Law).

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    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2009/06/connecticut-passes-probate-court-reform/feed/ 1     “Millionaire’s mistress battles his kin over estate” http://overlawyered.com/2009/04/millionaires-mistress-battles-his-kin-over-estate/ http://overlawyered.com/2009/04/millionaires-mistress-battles-his-kin-over-estate/#comments Mon, 20 Apr 2009 12:50:54 +0000 Ted Frank http://overlawyered.com/?p=10621 Family disputes between a wife and the mistress over a will are probably one of the few times when the “not about the money” saying really is true. But after a two-week trial and two trips to the Georgia Supreme Court, it’s hard to imagine that attorneys aren’t going to get the majority of the $6 million at stake in the five-year battle over Harvey Strother’s will. A penalty clause calling for the disinheritance of anyone who challenged the will appears to have been successfully challenged by the wife’s family. (AP/Washington Post, Apr. 13; Talia Mollett, “Millionaire’s will trial begins today”, Marietta Daily Journal, Jul. 15; Tom Opdyke, “Life’s final chapter to play out in court”, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Jul. 13; Melican v. Parker, 283 Ga. 253 (2008)).

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