Major law firm enmeshed in trust debacle.
In Greenberg Traurig Drawn Into Estate Case, N.Y. L.J., Aug. 8, 2006, Anthony Lin discusses the latest in the Sankel v. Spector case, involving the trust established by the late Eleanor Spector. The dispute involves two sisters, Linda J. Spector and Barbara Berlin.
Here are some experts from the article:
Shortly after her mother’s death, Linda sought to have her then-fiancé, Albert Jacobs, the senior chair of Greenberg Traurig’s national intellectual property practice, appointed co-trustee, arguing that the successor designated in trust, attorney Joel Sankel, had told her over dinner he would step aside.
But in a decision issued last week, a Manhattan appellate court sided with Sankel, who had argued in a petition that Linda Spector and Jacobs might be seeking to control the trust in order to effectively disinherit Berlin. The court found the Sankel had not unequivocally declined the trusteeship and that Jacob’s appointment raised ethical questions. ***
Linda Spector’s basis for claiming Sankel declined the appointment were statements he allegedly made at a dinner at her apartment during which she also informed him of her impending marriage to Jacobs. In his petition, Sankel, who had previously represented Linda Spector in a divorce, claimed he had not been previously aware of his designation and told her he needed more time to think about whether to accept or not.
He said he became concerned when reading in the trust document that trustees other than the two sisters had the authority to distribute the principal of the trust unequally. He said he feared that, if appointed, Jacobs would heavily favor Linda Spector over her sister. Sankel said he later contacted Berlin, who asked him to stay on as co-trustee to “protect her interests.”***
Sankel claimed Linda became extremely angry when he expressed reservations about stepping aside from the trusteeship. He said Jacobs also yelled at him over the phone and, according to the appellate court’s decision, threatened “to use the resources of his large law firm, if necessary, to remove Sankel as co-trustee.”
Miami-based Greenberg Traurig is one of the nation’s largest firms, with almost 1,500 lawyers worldwide and close to 300 in New York.
Thanks to Paul Caron, University of Cincinnati College of Law, for bringing this article to my attention.