The most basic goals of any administration for a fiduciary are to distribute the right assets to the right
people without getting sued. Standing between the fiduciary and these goals are numerous fiduciary
duties, not the least of which is the duty of impartiality. The duty of impartiality puts a fiduciary on the
razor’s edge, requiring the fiduciary to balance the competing interests of multiple beneficiaries in
situations ranging from the relatively routine, like investment decisions, to the more complicated, like
trust contests and disputes over the distribution of particular assets. This presentation seeks to arm
fiduciaries and their legal counsel with the knowledge, strategies, and skills to identify and proactively
navigate such situations.
B3 – Dulling the Razor’s Edge: Understanding, Identifying, and Navigating the Duty of Impartiality
Speakers
Jarom Phipps
Buchalter, A Professional Corporation
https://www.buchalter.com/
Jarom Phipps is a certified specialist in estate planning, trust, and probate law by the California State Bar Board of Legal Specialization. Jarom’s specialty is trust and estate related litigation, where throughout California he helps clients navigate complex issues all the way through discovery and trial. His clients include trustees, executors, creditors, and beneficiaries/heirs. Jarom expertly assists his clients with a variety of issues, including trust and will contests, estate mismanagement, interpretation disputes, probate and trust administration, and estate accountings. As such, Jarom’s knowledge as a certified specialist and his skillset as a litigation attorney make him uniquely qualified to handle complex and nuanced cases.
Bryan Phipps
Buchalter, A Professional Corporation
https://www.buchalter.com/
Bryan Phipps is a Shareholder in the Firm’s Sacramento office, and a member of the Litigation and Tax, Benefits, and Estate Planning practice groups. Mr. Phipps focuses his practice exclusively on helping individuals and families avoid and resolve inheritance disputes. He regularly assists and advises clients on proactive estate planning techniques, diligent administration of trust and probate estates, and ardent representation in court. Mr. Phipps’ clients value him for his creative and effective advocacy in trust and estate disputes, including will and trust contests, fiduciary accountings, breach of trust, financial elder abuse, and court-supervised protective proceedings such as conservatorships. He is also a Certified Special in Estate Planning, Trust, and Probate Law by the State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization, and is consistently named by his peers as a Northern California Super Lawyers “Rising Star” in the area of Trust & Estate Litigation. Most recently, Mr. Phipps was recognized as one of Sacramento Magazine’s 2022 Top Lawyers in the field of Tax, Benefits and Estate Planning.