PAUL GORDON HOFFMAN. Position:
Member. Born Los Angeles, California,
October 29, 1950;
admitted to bar, 1976, California.
Education: University
of California at Berkeley (B.S., 1972;
M.B.A., 1973); University
of California at Los Angeles (J.D., 1976).
Beta Gamma Sigma; Beta Alpha Psi. Comment Editor, UCLA Law Review, 1975-1976.
Author: "Limits on Retroactive Decision Making by the Internal Revenue
Service: Redefining Abuse of Discretion Under Section 7805 (b)," 23 UCLA
Law Review 529; "Should You Make Gifts Before Year-End? The Effect of the
Tax Reform Act of 1976," 52 Los Angeles Bar Journal 226; "Salary
-Continuation Plans Can Be Estate Tax Free But May Run Into Gift Tax
Problems," 9 Taxation For Lawyers 376. Co-Author: "Planning An Estate
in Light of Recent Changes in Tax and Copyright Laws," 5 Estate Planning
90; "Estate Planning for Individuals in the Entertainment Industry, "
Southern California Tax Institute 875, 1979; "Income Taxation of Estates
and Trusts," CEB, 1980; "Estate Planning for Clients with Special
Assets," Estate Planning, 1980; "The Marital Deduction: Beyond the
Basics," 35 Major Tax Planning, 1983; "Estate Planning - A Client
Based Approach," 39 Major Tax Planning, 1987; "Estate Planning for
Qualified Plan Benefits After 1986, " Estate Planning 1987;
"Retirement Plans & QTIPS," CEB, 1995; " New Developments:
Grantor Trust," NYU, 1995; "Federal and California Individual Income
Tax Developments," USC Law School Tax Institute, 1996 # 1300. Contributing
Author: "International Estate Planning," Matthew Bender, 1992.
Instructor: University of Southern California
Law Center
Advanced Professional Program, 1976-1979; UCLA School
of Law, 1981 -1991. Member: Planning Committee, UCLA/CEB Estate Planning
Institute, 1980 --; Board of Directors, Motion Picture and Television Tax
Institute, 1980 -- . Member, Planning Committee, USC Probate and Trust
Conference, 1984 --. Member: Beverly
Hills (Chairman, Tax Committee, 1980-1981), Los Angeles County and American Bar Associations;
State Bar of California. Fellow, American College of Trust and Estate Counsel.
Co-designer of the best selling software program, "Brentmark
Pension & Excise Tax Planner." Listed in "The Best Lawyers
in America"
1993-. Practice Areas: Taxation Law; Estate Planning Law.
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NINA MADDEN SABBAN. Position: Member. Born London, Ontario,
Canada, February 11, 1944; admitted
to bar, 1978, California.
Education: University of California at Los Angeles
(A.B., 1965) ; Loyola
Marymount University
(J.D., 1978). Lecturer: Probate Administration, Estate Taxation and Estate
Planning, California Continuing Education of the Bar, 1981 -- ; Practical Law
Courses, 1980, Beverly Hills Bar Association, 1981 -- ; UCLA/CEB Estate
Planning Institute, 1984; 1984 Retirement Planning Conference; USC Probate and
Trust Conference, 1985. Member, C.P.A., Foundation Planning Committee, 1984 --
. Consultant: California
Trust Administration, 1986; California
Will Drafting Practice, 1988, 1990; New York University Institute on Federal
Taxation, 1988. Member: Board of Governors, City of Hope,
1993 -- ; Chair, Planned Giving Committee, Western Region and Member, Southern California Chapter and National Boards of
Directors of the American Technion Society, 1993 -- .
Member: Beverly Hills and Los Angeles County (Member, Executive Committee of
Probate and Trust Section, 1982-1984; Chairman, Estate Tax Subcommittee, 1987,
1988) Bar Associations; State Bar of California. Fellow, American College of
Trust and Estate Counsel. Practice Areas: Estate Planning Law; Probate Law;
Trust Law.
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ALAN S. WATENMAKER. Position: Member. Born Los Angeles, California,
April 5, 1946;
admitted to bar, 1972, California.
Education: University
of California at Los Angeles (B.S., magna
cum laude, 1968; M.S., 1969); Boalt Hall School of
Law, University
of California at Berkeley
(J.D., 1972). Order of the Coif; Phi Beta Kappa; Beta Gamma Sigma. Author:
"Supplement to California
Decedent Estate Practice 1 & 2," 1994. Co-Author: "Post- Mortem
Tax Planning Checklist," Twentieth Annual USC Probate and Trust
Conference, 1994; "Death of a Spouse 'Now What Do I Do...?' Selected Tax
Issues for the Surviving Spouse," Forty-Seventh Annual Institute on
Federal Taxation, USC Tax Institute 1995. Contributing Author: California
Decedent Estate Practice 3, California Continuing Education of the Bar. Member,
Planning Committee, USC Probate and Trust Conference, 1981 --. Member: Beverly Hills and Los Angeles County (Member, Executive Committee,
Probate and Trust Law Section, 1982- 1985, 1989-1992) Bar Associations; State
Bar of California. Fellow, American College of Trust and Estate Counsel. (Certified
Specialist, Estate Planning, Trust and Probate Law, The State Bar of California Board of
Legal Specialization). Practice Areas: Estate Planning Law; Probate Law; Trust
Law.
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CHANG H. CHAE. Position: Member. Born Seoul, Korea,
April 4, 1970; admitted to bar, 1996, Iowa;
2000, California.
Education: London School of Economics and Political Science; Grinnell College
(BA, 1993, with Honors); University
of Iowa (J.D.,
1996). Author: “Keeping the “Family” in the Family
Home: Special Planning Challenges Posed by QPRTs”,
California
Trust and Estates Quarterly, Winter, 2001.
Member, Beverly Hills
Bar Association. Practice Areas: Estate Planning Law; Probate Law; Trust Law.
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GERALDINE A. WYLE. Position: Member.
Born May 4, 1953; admitted to bar, 1979, California.
Education: Radcliffe College, 1971-1973 Honors Program; University of
California at Los Angeles, B.A., magna cum laude, 1975; University of
California School of Law, Los Angeles, J.D., 1979. Fellow,
American College of Trust and Estate Counsel. Recognized as a "Southern California Super Lawyer". Author:
"Banking on Trust: The Trustee's Role as a Neutral Stakeholder May Now Be
Changed to Require an Affirmative Duty to Protect the Trust and Trustor's Intent," Los Angeles Daily Journal, May
1997. Co-Author: "A Charitable Catch-22: Standing for Private Attorney
General Actions in California," California Trusts & Estates Quarterly,
Summer 2006. Speaker: "Bomb-proofing the Estate Plan to Protect the Family
Trust from the Children" - San Fernando Valley Bar Association, Trusts
& Estates Section - December 2006. "May the Force Be with You: Private
Attorney General Actions come to California" - Beverly Hills Bar
Association, Trusts & Estates - January 2006. "Ethical Considerations
Relating to Joint and Multi-Generational Representations (with Jeryll Cohen)" - Beverly Hills Bar Association -
November 2005. "Practical Aspects of Practicing Law for New Attorneys:
Probate & Conservatorships; Ethics" - Beverly Hills Bar Association -
August 2003 through 2008. "Navigating the Unwritten Local Rules of the
Southern California Probate Courts" (with the Hon. Arnold Gold, Ret., and
California Superior Court, Probate Attorneys Brenda Penny, Esq. and Carmen Alberio, Esq.) - Beverly Hills Bar Association, Trusts
& Estates - Fall 2002. Member, Beverly
Hills Bar Association (Former Chair of the Trust and
Estate Section; co-chair, Newer Attorneys Program). Past President, Beverly Hills Bar Foundation;
Chair, Beverly Hills
Bar Foundation Supreme Court Luncheon. Member, California State Bar Judicial
Liaison Committee. Practice Areas: Fiduciary Litigation.
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JERYLL S. COHEN. Position: Member. Born
September 2, 1959; admitted to bar, 1986, California. Education: University of
California at Los Angeles, B.A. magna cum laude, 1981; Loyola Law School, Los
Angeles, J.D. cum laude, 1986. Recognized as a "Southern California
Super Lawyer". Speaker: "Practical Aspects of Practicing Law for New
Attorneys: Probate & Conservatorships; Ethics" - Beverly Hills Bar
Association - August 2005, 2006 and 2008. "Ethical Considerations Relating
to Joint and Multi-Generational Representations (with Geraldine Wyle)" -
Beverly Hills Bar Association - November 2005. Member, Beverly Hills Bar Association. Practice
Areas: Fiduciary Litigation, Estate Planning Law; Probate Law; Trust Law.
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ERIN L. PROUTY. Position: Member. Born Chicago, Illinois, June
14, 1960; admitted to bar, 1985, California;
1986, U.S. District Court, Central District of California; 1987, U.S. Tax
Court. Education: University of Southern California (B.A. 1980); University of San Diego
(J.D. 1985); Boston
University (LL.M.
Taxation, 1986). Fellow, American College
of Trust and Estate Counsel.
Author: "Withholding Regulations under the Foreign Investment in
Real Property Tax Act of 1980, as Amended," 5 Boston University
Journal of Tax Law, 1986. Member, Beverly
Hills Bar Association; State Bar of California. Member, Executive Committee,
Trusts & Estates Section, State Bar of California. Member: Board of Directors,
Brentwood/Westwood Symphony. Certified Specialist, Trust and Probate Law,
The State Bar of California
Board of Legal Specialization. Practice
Areas: Estate Planning Law; Probate Law; Taxation Law.
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MARY K. RAMSDEN. Position: Senior Counsel. Born
Oakland, California, May 19, 1949; admitted to bar, 1981, California; 1982,
U.S. Tax Court and U.S. District Court, Central District of California.
Education: University
of California at Los Angeles (A.B., 1971);
Loyola University of Los Angeles (J.D., 1981). Phi Alpha Delta.
Member, International Law Journal, 1980-1981. Author: "Formula Clauses in
Marital Deduction Planning," Spring 1993 Estate Planning, Trust &
Probate News, State Bar of California -Estate Planning, Trust and Probate Law
Section. Lecturer: Fundamentals of Estate Planning, 1989, Drafting Wills and
Estate Planning Documents, 1990, Estate Planning & Administration Practice:
9th Annual Recent Developments Program, 1994, California Continuing Education of the Bar.
Member: Beverly Hills Bar Association; State Bar
of California.
(Certified Specialist, Estate Planning, Trust and Probate Law, The State Bar of
California
Board of Legal Specialization). Practice Areas: Estate Planning Law; Probate
Law; Trust Law.
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LORETTA SICILIANO. Position: Senior Counsel. Born
Washington, D.C., January 10, 1949; admitted to bar, 1977, California and U.S.
District Court, Northern District of California; 1986, U.S. Tax Court and U.S.
District Court, Central District of California. Education: University of California,
Santa Cruz; Stanford University (B.A., 1971); Hastings College of the Law,
University of California (J.D., 1977); Golden Gate University (L.L.M., Tax,
with great distinction, 1982). Member: Los Angeles County
(Member, Tax Section; Tax Procedure Subcommittee; Tax Compliance Procedure and
Litigation Subcommittee Task Force) Bar Association; State Bar of California (Member:
Taxation Section; Tax Procedure and Litigation Committee); Women Lawyers
Association of Los Angeles
(Chair: Tax Procedures Subcommittee, 1990-1991; Board of Directors, 1990-1991).
Practice Areas: Taxation Law.
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DANIELLE E. MILLER. Position: Associate.
Born Pasadena, California, March 29, 1971; admitted to bar,
1996, California;
2000, U.S. Tax Court. Education: University of California,
Berkeley (BA, 1993); McGeorge School of Law
(J.D., 1996). Recipient, American Jurisprudence Award for
Jurisprudence. Member, Beverly Hills Bar Association. Practice
Areas: Estate Planning Law; Probate Law; Trust Administration.
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JOELLE M. DRUCKER. Position: Senior Counsel. Born Washington, D.C., December 17, 1967; admitted
to bar, 1994, California ; U.S. Tax Court;
Supreme Court of the United
States. Education: University of California,
Irvine (BA,
1990); University of San Francisco Law School (J.D. cum laude 1993); New York
University School of Law (LL.M., Taxation, 1994). Adjunct Professor,
Estate Planning, University
of West Los Angeles
School of Law. Co-Author, "Show Me the Money: Fiduciary and Attorney
Compensation Issues," USC Law School 2003 Probate and Trust Conference,
November 2003 Member, Beverly Hills Bar
Association (Executive Board Member and Committee Chair, Trusts and Estates
Section, Board of Governors); State Bar of California (Executive Board Member
and Committee Chair, Estate and Gift Tax Committee). Practice Areas: Estate
Planning Law; Probate Law; Trust Administration.
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SUSAN ABRAHAM. Position: Senior Counsel. Admitted to bar, 1986, California ; United States District Court, Central District,
1987. Education: Indiana University, B.S. with highest distinction, 1979; University of Denver,
M.S., 1980; University of California, Los Angeles, J.D., 1986
(Order of the Coif). Practice Areas:
Estate Planning Law; Probate Law; Trust Administration.
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JOHN L. WONG. Position: Associate. Admitted to bar, 2007, California . Education: California
State University
at Long Beach, B.A., 2003; Loyola
Law School,
J.D., 2006 (Dean’s Honor List).
Member, Los Angeles County Bar Association, Orange
County Bar Association (Trust and Estate Section and Young Lawyers Division),
American Bar Association and California
Young Lawyers Association. Practice
Areas: Estate Planning Law; Probate Law; Trust Administration.
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OF COUNSEL
KENNETH S. WOLF. Position: Of Counsel. Born Cincinnati, Ohio,
August 12, 1943;
admitted to bar, 1969, California.
Education: University
of Cincinnati (B.A.,
1965); Harvard University (J.D., 1968). Chairman,
University of Southern California Probate and Trust Conference, 1993 --.
Member: State Bar of California.
Fellow, American College of Trust and Estate Counsel. (Certified Specialist,
Estate Planning, Trust and Probate Law, The State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization).
Practice Areas: Estate Planning Law; Probate Law; Trusts Law; Beneficiary
Rights Disputes.
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