Challenges to Wills/Trusts and Lifetime Disputes

Jim concentrates his practice in contested estate, trust and family business matters, fiduciary risk management, and estate and gift tax controversies. He represents corporate and individual trustees, beneficiaries, and business owners. Jim has extensive trial, (including jury, trial) appellate and mediation experience.

Jim is a leader in the American Bar Association’s Section of Real Property, Trust and Estate Law (RPTE), where he continues to serve as the Chair of the Section’s Fiduciary Litigation, Ethics and Malpractice Group. He also is a member of the RPTE Section’s newly created Task Force on Technology and the Profession. The RPTE Section is comprised of over 22,000 U.S and international lawyers. The Litigation, Ethics and Malpractice and ADR Group, which Jim oversees as Chair, devotes its efforts to issues involving trust, estate and fiduciary litigation matters. The Group is responsible for educating members on national trends in a variety of areas and assists other Section Groups in analyzing trust and estate litigation, ethics or malpractice disputes. For the last eight years, Jim has served in various other leadership roles for the RPTE Section, including serving for several years as Liaison to the ABA’s Dispute Resolution Section, leading him to advance the RPTE Section’s involvement in Trust and Estate related mediation, including by creating a new committee on Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) in Trust and Estate litigation matters for the Group.

Jim has authored four chapters in the IICLE Contested Estates Manual which is a resource used by lawyers throughout Illinois. He is a frequent national speaker on various fiduciary topics for various organizations, including the American Bar Association, IICLE, the Estate Planning Councils of Chicago, Hawaii, Lake County and DuPage County, ALI-ABA, the Illinois State Bar Association, the Chicago Bar Association and the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers. Additionally, he has taught the course on Estates at the Loyola University of Chicago School of Law.

James is a partner in the private client and tax team. He assists executors and beneficiaries alike through all aspects of the estate administration process including probate, contested estates, contentious trust litigation, tax, and post-mortem estate planning issues. His practice also includes working with affluent individuals in the development and implementation of sophisticated planning techniques to help them accumulate, preserve, and transfer their wealth.

In addition to helping clients navigate through complex estate matters and identifying planning opportunities, James is a frequent author and speaker, nationally and internationally, on estate, trust, tax, and probate matters.

His efforts and contributions to the field have been recognized as he was named as Trusts & Estates Fellow for the Real Property, Trust & Estate Law Section of the American Bar Association for 2016-2018 and a finalist for the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP) Young Practitioner of the Year Award.