Co-Author, “Will Contests,” IICLE Litigating Disputed Estates, Trusts, Guardianships and Charitable Bequests (2023)

Co-Author, “Contested Claims,” IICLE Litigating Disputed Estates, Trusts, Guardianships and Charitable Bequests (2023)

Co-Author, “Admitting Wills to Probate,” IICLE Litigating Disputed Estates, Trusts, Guardianships and Charitable Bequests (2023)

“Will & Trust Contests”, published in the handbook entitled Causes of Action (Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education, 2011)

“Heirship, Adoption & Paternity”, IICLE Webinar (2010)

Click here for full list.

Illinois

U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois

Northwestern University School of Law, J.D.

Northwestern University, B.A.

Chicago Estate Planning Council

Young Professional Advisory Committee of the Chicago Community Trust

Chicago Bar Association, Probate Practice Committee

Illinois State Bar Association

Sam successfully prevailed in a bench trial in defending a client against her ex-husband’s effort to enforce a 15-year-old promissory note.

In representing a charity against a decedent’s off-shore asset protection trust, Sam was an essential member of the litigation team, achieving a victory in the Illinois Supreme Court.

Sam successfully settled a tortious interference with inheritance claim brought by three sisters against a fourth sister – alleging mistreatment and undue influence exerted upon their elderly and infirm mother. The turning point occurred when the defendant admitted to accelerating her mother’s death, resulting in an amended complaint pursuant to Illinois’ “Slayer Statute.”

In a hotly contested case involving heirship, paternity, and DNA testing, Sam successfully defended an action on behalf of a decedent’s brother.

In a highly publicized case brought by the Illinois Attorney General against an investment company seeking treble and punitive damages for an alleged violation of the Charitable Trust Act, Sam briefed an ultimately successful motion that led to the dismissal of her client as a party defendant because it did not qualify as a charitable “trustee” under the Act.

Sam was one of three lead attorneys in complex trust litigation in Pennsylvania involving the appointment of a successor corporate trustee and the establishment of a private trust company to be that potential successor trustee. Sam was also involved in the multiple appeals resulting from this litigation.

In representing several charitable beneficiaries seeking early termination of a charitable trust, Sam briefed the petition and secured the Illinois Attorney General’s support for trust termination. The court ultimately granted the petition and terminated the trust.

Sam successfully defended her regional bank client against multiple allegations of breach of fiduciary duty.

In acting as risk management counsel to an international financial services company headquartered in Chicago, Sam fended off multiple threats of litigation during the estate and trust administration process, succeeding in completing that process with no lawsuits filed against Sam’s client.

Sam has also obtained numerous favorable decisions reforming or construing wills and trusts.