Spotting Executor Abuse, Mismanagement, and Undue Influence in Trust and Estate Cases

Mr. Scheerer earned his J.D. in 2014 from the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law, which he attended on a full merit scholarship. He was elected to the Order of the Coif, served as Associate Editor of the UCLA Law Review, and received the Dean’s Award for the highest grade in Wills and Trusts. He received his B.A. in Political Science, summa cum laude, from UCLA in 2010, and is admitted to the California bar.

Mr. Scheerer’s trusts and estates litigation work has earned placement on the Lawdragon 500 Leading Trusts & Estates Lawyers list, recognition as a Benchmark Litigation Future Star, selection to Best Lawyers and Super Lawyers Rising Stars, and designation as a Chambers and Partners Up-and-Coming Notable Practitioner for High-Net-Worth Private Wealth Disputes in California. He has also been recognized among the Los Angeles Times Legal Visionaries and in Los Angeles Magazine’s Best of L.A. Legal.

Mr. Scheerer serves as a Board Member of the Beverly Hills Estate Planning Council, as Vice-Chair of Professional Responsibility for the American Bar Association Real Property, Trust and Estate Law Section, and as a member of the Los Angeles Estate Planning Council. He has presented to the California Lawyers Association, the ABA RPTE Annual National CLE Conference, and myLawCLE, and he authors articles on trusts and estates issues for Thomson Reuters Practical Law Trusts & Estates, the Daily Journal, and The Recorder.

Mr. Scheerer’s practice includes prosecuting and defending will and trust contests, defending creditor claims in decedents’ trusts or estates, defending conservatorship proceedings, and prosecuting and defending breach of fiduciary duty and surcharge claims against trustees. His recent results include successfully defending a multibillion-dollar claim against the Barron Hilton Trust, obtaining terminating sanctions and demurrers sustained without leave to amend for a trustee client, and securing an appellate affirmance after oral argument in the California Court of Appeal. At his previous firm, he was part of the trial team for Sumner Redstone, controlling shareholder of Viacom Inc. and CBS Corp., which secured complete dismissal of the lawsuit after the first day of trial. He previously practiced as a litigation associate at Hueston Hennigan LLP and Irell & Manella LLP.