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Twobeach, I know several T & E lawyers, having spent many years in The Trust Department of a bank. Although I am no longer working, I have been involved with many estates that ended with the court ultimately deciding the case, often to no ones total satisfaction. The law suits drain the assets of all concerned, often times including the estate.
A pit bull of a lawyer will only be as good as the will or trust will allow. If the language of the will/trust is poor, it allows for a more liberal interpretation by the court. IF it is a well written document, the case, many times is over before it starts.
I am trying to convince you, FIRST, to try to take a step back from the emotions and anger that have you looking for a pit bull attorney. Look at what is to be gained/lost in a lengthy legal battle, both in terms of economic toll as well as mental stress.
Then, if you still feel that you wish to continue ask for a consult with the attorney that you choose and bring the trust/will with you for a review. It may end right there.
We had a quote in the office "rise above principle and do what is right" which was attributed to Walter Heller, an economic adviser to the Kennedy administration. When I started there, I privately took exception to that thought, by the time I left I grew to embrace it.
I couldn't have said it any better than nuts. Hope you don't end up in a "Bleak House" type situation. Your post makes it sound like you want a television-type shark, but all the bluster in the world doesn't help if the attorney doesn't know his/her stuff.
Another board I frequent was discussing this issue (ultra aggressive lawyers) the other day, you should check it out: Litigation and aggressiveness (http://www.jdunderground.com/jdu/thread.php?threadId=23900 - broken link)
The consensus seemed to be that the more outwardly aggressive an attorney is, the more he's hiding something (whether it be a weak case or just a lack of knowledge). I think the type of attorney you should look for is the speak softly but carry a big stick type, because, believe it or not, professional courtesy can go a long way in assisting an attorney litigate his case. You give the opposition extra time to respond to your motion, they will do the same - and believe me, there will come a time in the litigation where your attorney will need a courtesy.
Anyway, to address your question, two of the heavy hitters in T&E here on Long Island are Vincent Russo, who runs an office named after himself, and Peter K. Kelly who is with Ruskin Moscou Faltischek. They will be expensive. I know a T&E attorney who would probably be more reasonably priced, DM me if you'd like his name.
Estate issues generally don't get litigated unless there are large enough sums of money involved to justify the expenses, out of curiosity, would you care to provide some limited details on the case?
I will not divulge the actual details of one of my more "interesting" T & E cases but will give some details to support my above statement.
Small family left, 3 siblings and a nephew of decedent. Nephew wanted nothing monetary despite being left $$$. Nephew was living in Europe and actually felt that they were far more deserving as they took care of decedent. He asked that because of his feelings his portion be divided by his 3 cousins. But, he did ask for item of the decedents' as a memento and that was all. The item was a piece of porcelain valued at most, at $ 25 Two of the 3 refused because "Johnny" didn't do anything for "Uncle Bob" so he should get nothing at all. You can imagine this nonsense and how we were smacking our head against a wall. The remaining sibling, had more sense and bought 3 identical porcelain items to the original one with her own money and gave them to us. She asked that as trustee, we put all 4 of the pieces on a table (we would know the "real" item") let her brothers examine them all they wanted and pick which one they "knew" belonged to "Uncle Bob". Each had to label the one they picked and they were held by us until the estate was settled. The nephew got the "real" one. We saw the stupidity as they were holding up receipt of in excess of $750,000 a piece before the split up of the cousins portion, all for a trinket.
It should be noted for the record that the sister told us her other siblings would never chose the same piece as each always had to be "right" so she would choose which ever they didn't.
As an aside, while this was an extreme case, it often is not much different than that.
As a lawyer I find these type of posts really amusing. Do you know that lawyers are judged based on the results they receive for their clients and NOT how much of an a-hole they are to their adversaries in court or how aggressive their personalities are?
Seriously. You dont need an aggressive pitbull for an attorney - you just need a GOOD one.
To all the Attorney's I might of offended, I apologise, Stereo Typing is not a nice thing! Seriously, Sorry. Very angry, Mom was very ill and was not in clear mind. Gpsma you'r wrong, this is all I will say to you, guess again. To everyone else, thank you for your time, attention and information.
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