Representative Experience

• Mr. Streisand is well known for his victories in courtroom battles over celebrity estates, including the estates of Ray Charles, Marlon Brando, Rodney Dangerfield, Michael Crichton and Barry White. Mr. Streisand represented Mrs. Katherine Jackson in the Estate of Michael Jackson, Larry Birkhead in the Estate of Anna Nicole Smith, and Britney Spears in her conservatorship proceedings. Mr. Streisand is equally well known for his success in some of the most complex cases in the probate courts. He won an eight-figure trial victory, including double damages, on behalf of the trustee, in a complex case unwinding 40 years of fraudulent creditor and tax avoidance schemes (follow the link to the Court of Appeal opinion affirming in full the trial court judgment). In three successive trials against a former trustee, Mr. Streisand won judgments in each case for a total of more than $10 million, double damages, and attorneys' fees and costs. Mr. Streisand has won numerous will and trust contests and actions to remove and impose damages on trustees and other fiduciaries. He has won numerous cases involving marital dissolution and family law matters, including a trial that established the obligation of a parent to pay adult child support for an emotionally disturbed child at levels more than double the highest legal guidelines in California. Winning in trial is the best leverage for obtaining favorable settlements. For example, Mr. Streisand obtained a $113 million settlement in an action by family members owning a minority interest in the Farmer Bros. Coffee Company against Roy Farmer who was controlling the company as trustee of family trusts owning a majority block of the stock.
• On the defense side, Mr. Streisand has achieved equally outstanding results. After plaintiff rejected a $120 million settlement offer, Mr. Streisand was called upon to try the case. After a four-week trial, the court held that plaintiff was entitled to only $3.2 million as her community property interest in her husband's $350 million company. He was victorious after a six-week trial in defense of a $25 million surcharge case, arising out of allegations of self-dealing by the trustee in redemptions of the trust's stock and options in a private REIT, among other claims. Mr. Streisand successfully defended a major law firm in a high profile case alleging legal malpractice and fraud. He successfully defended corporate trustees in a $57 million surcharge and removal case, alleging self-dealing and conflicts of interest. Mr. Streisand won summary judgment for the trustees of the Mark Hughes Trust in an action to surcharge and remove them based on allegations that as trustees and as officers and directors of Herbalife, the company founded by Mark Hughes, they enacted poison pills, golden parachutes and other anti-takeover devices to entrench and enrich themselves at the expense of the beneficiary. Mr. Streisand won at trial to defeat a former trustee and beneficiary who claimed millions in trustee fees and damages based on breaches of fiduciary duty, and millions in alleged trust distributions. Mr. Streisand won in court for the primary beneficiary and fiduciaries of the nine-figure estate of a prominent British Lord against claims that the estate's representatives transferred assets through a worldwide web of trusts to deprive plaintiffs of their inheritance. Mr. Streisand successfully defended the National Parkinson Foundation in a trial of a will contest by disgruntled beneficiaries claiming that the decedent improperly revoked his participation in mutual wills. The case was affirmed on appeal by the Second District Court of Appeal at 2003 WL198712. Mr. Streisand won a trial of a will contest alleging fraud, undue influence and lack of testamentary capacity concerning the $60 million estate of a prominent Canadian businessman. Mr. Streisand successfully defended the estate of an octogenarian against a claim by an exotic dancer in her twenties that the decedent promised to leave half of his estate to her.
• Some of Mr. Streisand’s other victories in celebrity and entertainment cases include his victory in obtaining the dismissal of palimony claims by Coco Johnson against comedian and talk-show host Bill Maher. Mr. Streisand won summary judgment in the U.S. District Court for the Beastie Boys and Capitol Records in a landmark copyright case involving digital sampling and affirmance on appeal in the 9th Circuit. Newton v. Diamond, et al., 349 F.3d 591 (9th Cir. 2003), 204 F.Supp.2d 1244 (C.D. Cal. 2002) (follow the link to see the 9th Circuit opinion). Mr. Streisand won a multi-million dollar judgment in an arbitration by proving that Franchise Pictures breached a distribution agreement for the motion picture "Plan B" starring Diane Keaton. On behalf of famed ocean explorer Jacques Yves Cousteau, Mr. Streisand obtained a permanent injunction in an action against his son Jean-Michel Cousteau to protect against the commercialization of the Cousteau name by its use in connection with a Fiji resort.

Publications/Speeches

• Speaker, “Intentional Interference with Inheritance: Is it a Brave New World in Probate?”, State Bar of California Webinar (April 2013)
• Speaker, “Intelligent Planning for Intellectual Property”, Heckerling Institute on Estate Planning (January 2013)
• Author, "Tortious Interference with Inheritance: Is it a Brave New World in California?", California Trusts and Estates Quarterly, Volume 18, Issue 2 (2012)
• Speaker, Ethical Challenges in Estate Planning and Administration, 2012 Professional Advisor Speaker Series, Jewish Community Foundation of Los Angeles (October 31, 2012)
• Speaker, Malpractice and Ethics Issues for Estate Planners, San Fernando Valley Estate Planning Council (May 2012)
• Speaker, Rumors Of Their Death May Be Exaggerated: Conservatorships and Pre-Death Litigation, USC Trust & Estate Conference, Los Angeles, California (November 2011)
• Author, Malpractice Melee: Fending Off the Disgruntled and Disappointed, an Estate Planner’s Field Guide, 3 Tex. Tech Est. P. & Com. Prop. L.J. 241 (Spring 2011)
• Speaker, Advanced Trust and Estate Litigation (CEB) (December 2010)
more

Media Mentions

• Christie's to Auction off Michael Chrichton's Art Collection By David Ng, Los Angeles Times
• Life After Michael People
• Judge: Joe Jackson Can't Challenge Will Executors USA Today
• Jackson's Mom Hires Adam Streisand Lawdragon
• Katherine Jackson Replaces Lawyers in Estate Battle Alan Duke, CNN
• Katherine Jackson Hires New Lawyer for Battle Over Estate Daniel Kreps, Rolling Stone
• Charitable Efforts Left Wanting? By Alexa Hyland, Los Angeles Business Journal
• Britney Returns By Jenny Eliscu, Rolling Stone Magazine
• The Top 100 Attorneys of 2008 Worth
• Henry Nicholas Unfit as Co-Trustee, Ex-Wife Says By E. Scott Reckard, Los Angeles Times
• Lawyers Are Punch Line in Suit Over Comedian’s Estate By Don J. DeBenedictis, Los Angeles Daily Journal
• Death Becomes Him By Tina Spee, Los Angeles Daily Journal (Cover Article)
• Judge Tosses Part of Maher Palimony Suit By Blair Clarkson, Los Angeles Daily Journal
• Bill Maher: Ex-Girlfriend Sues for $9 Million By Neil Blincow, Star Magazine
• Sibling Rivalry Heats Up at Torrance Coffee Company By Stefanie Knapp, Daily Journal "Extra"
• Exec's Remark Stir Farmer Bros. Battle By Jerry Hirsch, Los Angeles Times
• Beastie Boys Rap Out Victory By Christina Landers, Verdicts & Settlements
• Beastie Boys Sample Federal Court Victory By Susan McRae, Los Angeles Daily Journal
• Daughters Lose Lawsuit Over Rich Father's Estate By Christina Landers, Verdicts & Settlements

Affiliations

• Member, Executive Committee, Section on Trusts and Estates, State Bar of California
• Former Executive Editor, California Trusts & Estates Quarterly
• Fellow, American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC)
• Member, Long-Range Planning Committee, Fiduciary Litigation Committee and Professional Responsibility Committee of ACTEC
• Member, Planning Committee of UCLA/CEB Estate Planning Institute
• Member, CEB Estate Planning Advisory Committee
• Member, Planning Committee of the USC Probate and Trust Conference
• Faculty Member, National Institute for Trial Advocacy (NITA)
• Former Chair, Trusts and Estates Section, Century City Bar Association
• Former Board Member, Constitutional Rights Foundation (CRF)
• Former Member, Development Committee, Project Angel Food
• Former Member, Development Committee, Alzheimer’s Association
• Volunteer Attorney, Bet Tzedek Legal Services, offering pro bono publico legal services to the poor and elderly

Distinctions

• Received highest ranking in "Chambers USA 2011 and 2012, America's Leading Lawyers for Business," in California Tax: Estate Planning, (also recognized in 2010 edition)
• Named one of "California’s Top 100 Lawyers," Los Angeles Daily Journal (2010)
• Named one of "L.A.'s Top 100 Lawyers" in the Los Angeles Business Journal’s “Who’s Who in LA Law” (2009)
• Named one of "The 100 Top Attorneys" in Trusts and Estates, Worth magazine (2008 edition)
• Named "Best Lawyer" in Trust and Estate Litigation, The Best Lawyers in America, published by Woodward/White, Inc. (2008-2013)
• Fellow, American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC)
• Attorney Member, National College of Probate Judges 
• Recipient, Wiley W. Manuel Award for Pro Bono Legal Services, Board of Governors of the State Bar of California
• Named in "Southern California Super Lawyers" in Trust & Estate Litigation, a Thomson Reuters business (2004-2013)
• Named a "Leading Lawyer" in the Lawdragon 500 Leading Lawyers in America (2010)
• Named a "Leading Litigator" in the Lawdragon 500 America's Leading Trial Lawyers (2006)
• Named one of the "Leading Lawyers in America," Lawdragon 3000 Leading Lawyers Guide (2006)
• Highest "AV Preeminent (5 out of 5)" Professional Rating, Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory
• Recommended in the Citywealth "Leaders List" by Jones Publishing Limited (2011-2013)