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In my research to prepare for the possibility of winning a huge jackpot in one of the Lotto games, the common recommendation is to hire law firms that have experience with handling issues that Lotto winners may face in claiming and keeping their winnings. My question is who has recommendations on this? Is there anyone in this forum who has won a huge jackpot and has found a trustworthy lawyer with this type of experience, perticularly in Los Angeles County? I hope that there are some lotto winners in this forum who have safely gone through this process and found their lawyer and accountant and can answer this question.
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I doubt if many law firms advertise they have represented lottery winners (especially ones who may have claimed anonymously).
1.) Most bar associations list their members online so check any attorney out on the CA bar site to be certain they are current members and have no record of disciplinary action.
2.) Go with a name firm with a tax/financial advice department. You will still need to get a separate accountant, etc, but there are financial related legal issues about which they should be well versed.
3.) Check out the firm's website. Do they represent any fortune 500 clients? That is a good sign.
4.) Clarify billing rates and estimates upfront. Ask to be informed of any amount beyond what was agreed to, to be approved first. Even the wealthiest of law firm clients worry about billing now. Do not look for the cheapest one.
5.) Check out multiple attorneys. You have to be willing to devote time and effort here and not just accept any name passed onto you.
The Hall Of The Mountain Kings Tennessee United States
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Quote: Originally posted by JackPotter on Dec 21, 2013
In my research to prepare for the possibility of winning a huge jackpot in one of the Lotto games, the common recommendation is to hire law firms that have experience with handling issues that Lotto winners may face in claiming and keeping their winnings. My question is who has recommendations on this? Is there anyone in this forum who has won a huge jackpot and has found a trustworthy lawyer with this type of experience, perticularly in Los Angeles County? I hope that there are some lotto winners in this forum who have safely gone through this process and found their lawyer and accountant and can answer this question.
If you get more than one lawyer, make sure they hate each other and tell each one to keep an eye on the other one.
And then get another one to watch those two so they don't team up to steal your money.
And one more to watch the one that's watching the other two.
And then get a Detective Agency to follow them all wherever they go in case they all suddenly leave the country with all your money.
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Thanks for the starter advice. I agree that it's not a good idea to look for cheap or bargain lawyers or accountants for such major issues. I like your idea about researching who their clientele are. They will add to the firm's credibility. I have no problem with putting time and effort into research, but I don't like to spin my wheels and get nowhere without proper direction of how and where to apply my efforts. This is one reason that I'm hoping to get advice from some one who has already gone through the process. So for now, I'll start with the local yellow pages and the CA bar site for background checks as you said.
I'll also need advice on handling contracts with lawyer services and how to prevent them from taking control of my account or my decisions. Same goes with accounting services. These big guys have lots of experience with handling and possibly manipulating clients, so I need to know what I'm getting into. There seems to be a lot of similarities between managing lotto winnings and running a owner operated business.
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Quote: Originally posted by JackPotter on Dec 21, 2013
Thanks for the starter advice. I agree that it's not a good idea to look for cheap or bargain lawyers or accountants for such major issues. I like your idea about researching who their clientele are. They will add to the firm's credibility. I have no problem with putting time and effort into research, but I don't like to spin my wheels and get nowhere without proper direction of how and where to apply my efforts. This is one reason that I'm hoping to get advice from some one who has already gone through the process. So for now, I'll start with the local yellow pages and the CA bar site for background checks as you said.
I'll also need advice on handling contracts with lawyer services and how to prevent them from taking control of my account or my decisions. Same goes with accounting services. These big guys have lots of experience with handling and possibly manipulating clients, so I need to know what I'm getting into. There seems to be a lot of similarities between managing lotto winnings and running a owner operated business.
I don't have specific attorneys to recommend, but I can provide my 2 cents. I agree with Artist77, you should start with a name firm first.
Martindale-Hubbell (martindale dot com) is another good resource used in the legal industry to find more information about law firms and attorneys.
The five most prestigious law firms founded in Los Angeles and for the most part still based here are O'Melveny & Myers, Gibson Dunn, Latham & Watkins, Paul Hastings, and Munger, Tolles & Olson. They all have world-class tax departments and represent Fortune 25 corporations. These are all internationally known firms with attorneys that attended top law schools and clerked with federal judges.
As for Munger Tolles, the firm was founded by Charlie Munger, vice-chairman of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway, so they understand how to manage legal issues surrounding wealthy entities quite well.
You can find more information on their respective websites.
Lastly, the attorney, accountant, and financial adviser should all be from different firms, so you have checks and balances built in.
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Quote: Originally posted by mrcraft on Dec 21, 2013
I don't have specific attorneys to recommend, but I can provide my 2 cents. I agree with Artist77, you should start with a name firm first.
Martindale-Hubbell (martindale dot com) is another good resource used in the legal industry to find more information about law firms and attorneys.
The five most prestigious law firms founded in Los Angeles and for the most part still based here are O'Melveny & Myers, Gibson Dunn, Latham & Watkins, Paul Hastings, and Munger, Tolles & Olson. They all have world-class tax departments and represent Fortune 25 corporations. These are all internationally known firms with attorneys that attended top law schools and clerked with federal judges.
As for Munger Tolles, the firm was founded by Charlie Munger, vice-chairman of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway, so they understand how to manage legal issues surrounding wealthy entities quite well.
You can find more information on their respective websites.
Lastly, the attorney, accountant, and financial adviser should all be from different firms, so you have checks and balances built in.
Most of those firms listed do not work in the trust and estates space. They are corporate litigation, tax, commercial real estate, securities or transaction firms. Though they deal with some areas of overlap for companies, it's not really high net worth individuals or families that they work with. It's kind of like hiring the most prestigious firm (Wachtell Lipton - a corporate transaction firm) for white collar criminal defense or patent litigation.
The Hall Of The Mountain Kings Tennessee United States
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April 28, 2009
15,378 Posts
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Quote: Originally posted by JackPotter on Dec 21, 2013
Thanks for the starter advice. I agree that it's not a good idea to look for cheap or bargain lawyers or accountants for such major issues. I like your idea about researching who their clientele are. They will add to the firm's credibility. I have no problem with putting time and effort into research, but I don't like to spin my wheels and get nowhere without proper direction of how and where to apply my efforts. This is one reason that I'm hoping to get advice from some one who has already gone through the process. So for now, I'll start with the local yellow pages and the CA bar site for background checks as you said.
I'll also need advice on handling contracts with lawyer services and how to prevent them from taking control of my account or my decisions. Same goes with accounting services. These big guys have lots of experience with handling and possibly manipulating clients, so I need to know what I'm getting into. There seems to be a lot of similarities between managing lotto winnings and running a owner operated business.
Texas United States
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June 5, 2010
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Quote: Originally posted by Artist77 on Dec 21, 2013
I doubt if many law firms advertise they have represented lottery winners (especially ones who may have claimed anonymously).
1.) Most bar associations list their members online so check any attorney out on the CA bar site to be certain they are current members and have no record of disciplinary action.
2.) Go with a name firm with a tax/financial advice department. You will still need to get a separate accountant, etc, but there are financial related legal issues about which they should be well versed.
3.) Check out the firm's website. Do they represent any fortune 500 clients? That is a good sign.
4.) Clarify billing rates and estimates upfront. Ask to be informed of any amount beyond what was agreed to, to be approved first. Even the wealthiest of law firm clients worry about billing now. Do not look for the cheapest one.
5.) Check out multiple attorneys. You have to be willing to devote time and effort here and not just accept any name passed onto you.
I doubt if many law firms advertise they have represented lottery winners (especially ones who may have claimed anonymously).
When I did searches online about trusts and the lottery, there were actually a few articles where the writer, who was an attorney, made mention that they had represented numerous lottery winners. They didn't use client names, but did mention their experience with them. I wouldn't put much stock in that, as there's no telling the amount they dealt with or if they're actually telling the truth.
There has been multiple uses of the same law firm for different wins. A quick search found Manfred Sternberg of Houston who has been the trustee for two wins (one in 2012 another 2013). I remember finding more back when I was looking around, but that was from a quick 1 minute search.
To OP, you can try going on Google and looking for news articles mentioning trusts claiming the lottery in that area. To find the Texas articles I used words like lottery jackpot, blind trust, revocable trust, LLC, MegaMillions, PowerBall, etc.
I would definitely recommend Artist's list though. Do that and it won't matter if the one you pick has any experience with lottery winnings. I would be shocked if you couldn't find a good lawyer in that area considering the amount of money that's there.