Terry Franklin & Meg Lodise Named to Los Angeles Business Journal’s “Leaders of Influence: Litigators & Trial Lawyers” List

Partners Terry Franklin and Meg Lodise were featured as “Leaders of Influence: Litigators & Trial Lawyers,” published by Los Angeles Business Journal in recognition of the region’s most outstanding litigators.

In its editorial, Los Angeles Business Journal noted:

Franklin has developed a reputation as a leading trusts and estates attorney in his 30 years of practice, handling the most complex cases involving significant dollar amounts. Franklin is responsible for several published appeals and the landmark Moeller v. Superior Court case, which was brought before the California Supreme Court and established a fiduciary exception to the attorney-client privilege for successor trustees. In the past 18 months alone, he has successfully represented beneficiaries, trustees, individuals and institutional clients in matters involving substantial assets. For example, he recently represented multiple siblings as co-trustees against their sibling co-trustee’s attempts to improperly prevent the sale of a closely-held family business for her personal benefit at the expense of the trust, resulting in the successful sale of that business and resignation of the rogue co-trustee. Continued litigation resulted in discounted “buyout” of remaining beneficiary.

Lodise has established an impressive reputation for handling some of the most complex and high-dollar trusts and estates disputes. Among her high-profile representations, Lodise was appointed by the Probate Court as Guardian Ad Litem for the minor children of entertainer Michael Jackson, a responsibility she carried out soon after Jackson’s death in 2009 and concluded in February 2020 with his youngest child, Prince Michael Jackson II (“Blanket” or “Biji”) turning 18. In this role, Lodise initially advocated for the best interests of the performer’s two sons and daughter due to disputes over Jackson’s affairs, including the resolution of certain contracts proposed by the estate’s Special Administrators, but opposed in part by Jackson’s mother, Katherine. Lodise continued to represent the interests of the children after the initial dispute in connection with the ongoing administration of the estate.

View the full “Leaders of Influence: Litigators & Trial Lawyers” feature here (requires subscription).