Margaret G. Lodise has more than 25 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 Secretary 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 is an adjunct professor at Loyola Law School.
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.
Honors and Awards
• “Women of Influence: Attorneys” – Los Angeles Business Journal, 2022
• LA Times Business of Law: Visionaries 2021
• Litigation Star – Benchmark Litigation, 2020 – present
• “Leaders of Influence: Litigators & Trial Lawyers,” Los Angeles Business Journal, 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®
• Southern California Super Lawyers
• Who’s Who in L.A. Law – Los Angeles Business Journal
Past Employment Positions
• Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe
• Ross, Sacks & Glazier, Partner
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
Classes/Seminars
• 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, 11/29/2017
• 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 to 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
Professional Associations and Memberships
• American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC), Secretary, 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
