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Margaret G. Lodise - Los Angeles, CA
350 S. Grand AvenueSuite 3500 Los Angeles, CA 90071 - 3475
Sacks Glazier Franklin & Lodise
Los Angeles Estate, Trust and Conservatorship Litigation Lawyer
Overview
Margaret G. Lodise has more than 35 years' experience representing beneficiaries and trustees, conservators, individuals and institutional clients in connection with a range of matters pertaining to estate, trust and conservatorship litigation. In addition, she handles estate, trust and conservatorship administration.
Ms. Lodise handles appellate work concerning trusts, estates and conservatorships, and has been appointed by the court as a guardian ad litem in connection with significant matters. Her recent representative matters include successfully defending a trustee from claims of surcharge and improper investments; representing a professional trustee in connection with a dispute over the distribution of a trust; and representing a beneficiary of a disputed family trust, in which the beneficiary prevailed at trial and on the appellate level in having significant assets resulting from the sale of the family business transferred to her.
Actively involved in the legal community, Ms. Lodise is a Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC) and currently serves as Treasurer of the organization. Additionally, she is a Member of ACTEC's Executive Committee, Amicus Review Committee, Fiduciary Litigation Committee, Program Committee, Professional Responsibility Committee, and serves as an Ombudsperson. Ms. Lodise is a current member and former President of the Women Lawyers Association of Los Angeles.
Ms. Lodise serves as an expert witness and is frequently called upon to speak on estate and trust-related issues before bar and community organizations, including ACTEC, the Los Angeles and Beverly Hills Bar Associations, the Professional Fiduciary Association of California, the Practicing Law Institute and California CEB. She served as an adjunct professor at Loyola Law School for more than a decade.
She has been ranked by Chambers and Partners High Net Worth guide in the Private Wealth Disputes category; recognized on the "Women of Influence: Attorneys," "Top Women Attorneys," "Leaders of Influence: Litigators & Trial Lawyers," and "Who's Who in L.A. Law 2009" lists by Los Angeles Business Journal; featured in LA Times' Business of Law: Visionaries; and named to the list of Best Lawyers in America® since 2011 and Southern California Super Lawyers since 2005.
After earning a Bachelor's degree cum laude from Pomona College, Ms. Lodise received her law degree in 1988 from the University of California at Los Angeles and her LL.M. in taxation from Loyola Law School in 2002. Prior to joining Sacks Glazier Franklin & Lodise, she was a partner with Ross, Sacks & Glazier, LLP and prior to that she worked at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe.
About Margaret G. Lodise
Current Employment Position(s)
- Partner
Practice Areas
- Estate, Trust and Conservatorship Litigation
Qualifications
Bar Admissions
- California, 1988
Other Affiliations
- American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC), Treasurer, Member of the Executive Committee, Amicus Review Committee, Fiduciary Litigation Committee, Program Committee, Professional Responsibility Committee, and serves as an Ombudsperson
- Los Angeles County Bar Association, Trust and Estate Section (Member, Past Chair)
- State Bar of California (Trusts and Estates Executive Committee Member, Past Chair)
- Women Lawyers' Association of Los Angeles (Member, Past President)
Classes and Seminars
- Presenter, “Clients with Diminished Capacity: Facts, Strategies & Ethics,” Continuing Education of the Bar – California, June 2024
- Speaker, “How to Protect Your Charity,” Hawaii Tax Institute 60th Annual Conference, November 2023
- Guest, “Hiring, Examining and Being an Expert Witness," ACTEC Trust & Estate Talk Podcast, April 2023
- Moderator, “Be Overqualified, Not Overconfident! Hiring, Examining and Being an Expert Witness,” American College of Trust and Estate Counsel, 2023 Annual Meeting
- Speaker, "Ethical Issues Arising in the Representation of Fiduciaries and Beneficiaries,” ALI CLE, October 2022
- Speaker, "Multi-Generational Representation & Other Common Representation Trickiness," American College of Trust and Estate Counsel, July 2022
- Speaker, "Planning for Probate Contests," Skills Training for Estate Planners hosted by the American Bar Association Section of Real Property, Trust & Estate Law, August 2022
- Touching the Third Rail: Diversity, Culture and Ethics in Estate Planning, ALI CLE’s Estate Planning Course Materials Journal, July 2022; 55th Annual Heckerling Institute on Estate Planning sponsored by the University of Miami School of Law, and published by LexisNexis, 2022
- Speaker, "Murder, Tax Evasion and Haute Couture," 2022 Wealth Planning Symposium hosted by The Northern Trust Institute, April 2022
- Speaker, "Touching the Third Rail: Diversity, Culture and Ethics in Estate Planning," Financial & Estate Planning Council of Metropolitan Detroit, November 2021
- Speaker, "Touching the Third Rail: Diversity, Culture and Ethics in Estate Planning," 66th Annual Estate Planning Seminar, October 2021
- Speaker, “Touching the Third Rail: Diversity, Culture and Ethics in Estate Planning,” 55th Annual Heckerling Institute on Estate Planning, May 2021
- Moderator and Speaker, “Introducing Trust Protectors: What’s Puzzling You is the Nature of Their Game,” American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC) National Meeting, March 2021
- Speaker, “Love in the Time of COVID-19, Trustee and Beneficiary Harmony in Years Like 2020,” USC Trust and Estate Conference 2020
- Co-presenter, American Bar Association Skills Training for Estate Planners – Interactive Virtual Experience, August 2020
- Panelist, Preparing for the Unexpected: Designing and Drafting Estate Plans That Can Withstand the Heat!, 53rd Annual Heckerling Institute on Estate Planning, January 2019
- Panelist, "Warring Siblings, Second Spouses and Quirky Personalities: The Neuroscience and Handling of Difficult Beneficiaries,” ACTEC 2019 Annual Meeting
- Speaker, Clients with Diminished Capacity, 40th Annual UCLA/CEB Estate Planning Institute, April 2018
- Panelist, “Shut Your Mouth! A Multidisciplinary Look at Standards of Privilege," South Bay Estate Planning Council and Long Beach Estate Planning Council Joint Meeting, July 2018
- Webinar Co-Presenter, "I'm President and Sole Trustee: Resolving Conflicts When Fiduciaries Hold Entity Interests,", American Law Institute and American College of Trust and Estate Counsel
- Co-Speaker, Riding the Practical and Ethical Waves of Acting as Court Appointed Counsel, The Conservatorship, Guardianship & Protective Proceedings section of the Orange County Bar Association, - November 29, 2017
- Panelist, "Beneficiaries and Trustees Behaving Badly", Los Angeles County Bar Association 2014 Trusts and Estates Symposium, - 2014
- Co-Speaker, "Ethics & Malpractice Issues: Protection Tips for Estate and Trusts Attorneys", Continuing Education of the Bar (CEB), - 2013
- Adjunct Professor, Loyola Law School, "Estate and Probate Litigation", Summer Term, 2012 - 2013
- Adjunct Professor, "Probate and Estate Litigation", Loyola Law School
- Speaker, Various Trust and Estate Issues, Los Angeles County Bar Association
- Speaker, Various Trust and Estate Issues, Beverly Hills Bar Association
- Speaker, Various Trust and Estate Issues, Professional Fiduciary Association of California
- Speaker, Various Trust and Estate Issues, California CEB
- Speaker, Various Trust and Estate Issues, Practicing Law Institute
- Speaker, USC Gould School of Law Trusts and Estates Conference
Pro Bono Activities
- Board of Trustees, Pomona College
- Torchbearers Board, Pomona College
- Probate Volunteer Panel, Los Angeles County Superior Court
- Board of Governors, City Club of Los Angeles
- Chair, Pomona College Presidential Search Committee
Past Positions
- Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe
- Ross, Sacks & Glazier, Partner
Education
- University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) School of Law, Los Angeles, California, 1988
Honors: Member, Moot Court Honors Program - Loyola Law School, Los Angeles, California, 2002
LL.M.
Major: Taxation - Pomona College, Pomona, California, 1985
Honors: cum laude
Fees
Accepts Credit Cards
Articles
Published Works
- Ethical Considerations in the Representation of Fiduciaries and Beneficiaries, Published: Daily Journal, February 2023
- Crisis in Conservatorships, Published: California Trusts & Estates Quarterly – Volume 13, Issue 1, Spring 2007, Co-authored by Margaret G. Lodise, Edward J. Corey, Jr., Peter S. Stern
Office Information
Address
350 S. Grand AvenueSuite 3500 Los Angeles, CA 90071 - 3475
Phone
Fax
- 213-617-9350
Websites
Achievements
Other Sources of Feedback About Margaret G. Lodise
Included on the 2025 Southern California Super Lawyers list
Past Lists
- 2024 Southern California Super Lawyers list
- 2023 Southern California Super Lawyers list
- 2022 Southern California Super Lawyers list
- 2021 Southern California Super Lawyers list
- 2020 Southern California Super Lawyers list
- 2019 Southern California Super Lawyers list
- 2018 Southern California Super Lawyers list
- 2017 Southern California Super Lawyers list
- 2016 Southern California Super Lawyers list
- 2015 Southern California Super Lawyers list
- 2014 Southern California Super Lawyers list
- 2013 Southern California Super Lawyers list
- 2012 Southern California Super Lawyers list
- 2011 Southern California Super Lawyers list
- 2010 Southern California Super Lawyers list
- 2009 Southern California Super Lawyers list
- 2008 Southern California Super Lawyers list
- 2007 Southern California Super Lawyers list
- 2006 Southern California Super Lawyers list
- 2005 Southern California Super Lawyers list
Honors
- Leaders of Influence: Litigators & Trial Lawyers, Los Angeles Business Journal, 2020 - 2024
- Who's Who in L.A. Law - Los Angeles Business Journal
- Top 10 Influential California Lawyers in Private Wealth Disputes, Business Today, 2023
- Women of Influence: Attorneys – Los Angeles Business Journal, 2024, 2023 and 2022
- Top 100 - Los Angeles Business Journal, 2023 - Present
- LA Times Business of Law: Visionaries 2023 and 2021
- Litigation Star – Benchmark Litigation, 2020 - Present
- Leaders of Influence: Litigators & Trial Lawyers, Los Angeles Business Journal, 2023, 2022, 2021, and 2020
- "Notable Practitioner" – Chambers and Partners High Net Worth Private Wealth Disputes
- Top Women Attorneys 2020 - Los Angeles Business Journal
- Top 50 Women- Southern California Super Lawyers 2011-Present
- Lawyer of the Year -Litigation – Trust & Estates, Los Angeles - Best Lawyers 2012
- Best Lawyers in America®, 2011 - Present
- Southern California Super Lawyers, 2005 - Present
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