John A. Hartog Named to 2021 Northern California Super Lawyers
ORINDA, Calif., July 7, 2021 – Hartog, Baer & Hand Managing Principal John A. Hartog was named to the 2021 edition of Northern California Super Lawyers for the 17th consecutive year. Hartog also appeared on the “Top 10” list of lawyers in Northern California for the third year in a row.
Northern California Super Lawyers is a Thomson Reuters rating service and publication that lists outstanding lawyers, from more than 70 practice areas, who have attained a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. The objective of the selection process is to create a credible, comprehensive and diverse listing of outstanding attorneys that may be used as a resource to assist in the search for legal counsel. Compiled through peer nomination and research, approximately five percent of the Northern California Bar received the distinction.
Hartog is a California certified specialist in Estate Planning, Trust and Probate Law, and Taxation Law. He has expertise in counseling trustees administering living trusts and in resolving disputes among beneficiaries and fiduciaries. Hartog is a Fellow of the American College of Trusts and Estates Counsel and a past Chair of the Executive Committee of the Trusts & Estates Section of the California State Bar. He is also a past Chair of the Estate Planning, Trust and Probate Law Advisory Commission to the Board of Legal Specialization of the California State Bar. Hartog received his L.L.M in taxation from Golden Gate University of Law (1984); his J.D. from Hastings College of the Law (1979); and his B.A., cum laude, from Pomona College (1974).
About Hartog, Baer & Hand
Hartog, Baer & Hand is a boutique trust and estate law firm featuring bar certified specialists in planning, administration, dispute resolution, litigation and taxation. Established in 1991, the firm serves clients throughout the greater Bay Area and California.
Principal Ryan Szczepanik and Daniel Spector presented on the “Best (and latest) Practices for Trust, Estate and Financial Elder Abuse Mediations” to the Alameda County Bar Association. Topics discussed included common methods of resolution, when to participate in a T&E, FEA mediation, selecting the right mediator, pre-mediation tasks, the mediation brief, and the settlement agreement.
Ryan will discuss a litigator’s perspective to conflicts that estate planners often encounter, including representing clients with mental capacity that may appear impaired, representing clients who want to make a gift to an individual identified in Probate Code section 21380 thereby invoking the presumption that the gift is the product of fraud or undue influence, and representing clients in circumstances where it appears a child or another may have undue influence over them, particularly where there are any questions of favoritism.
In his article for Bloomberg Tax, HBH Principal Andrew Verriere examines the California Court of Appeal’s Breslin v. Breslin decision and the expanded authority of trial courts in trust proceedings.