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Trudi Schindler has more than 20 years experience practicing exclusively in the area of trust, estate and fiduciary litigation, probate, conservatorships, guardianships and elder abuse law.  She co-founded Schindler Eyrich │ LLP, a firm that is devoted to the field.  Representative clients include executors, administrators, trustees, beneficiaries and creditors of estate or other interested parties in estate or trust court proceedings. Her philosophy is to provide practical advice and achieve cost-effective solutions in matters often involving emotionally charged disputes among family members. Though well known for litigation skills and trial work, she believes it is better to settle a case on the clients' terms rather than have a judge decide the outcome.

She is the past Chair of the Los Angeles County Bar Trust & Estate Section, the past co-chair of the Beverly Hills Bar Association Trust & Estate Section, has been active on the Litigation Subcommittee of the Trust & Estate Section of the State Bar of California and has served on the Board of Governors for the Women’s Lawyers Association of Los Angeles. She has four published court opinions from the Courts of Appeal including one from the California Supreme Court. She has the distinction of being named to the list of Best Lawyers in America®, in Southern California Super Lawyers, a designation awarded to only the top 5 percent of attorneys and listed among The Top LA Women Lawyers per Los Angeles magazine. Prior to co-founding Schindler Eyrich │ LLP in 2010, Trudi was Senior Counsel in the Trust & Estate Department at the Los Angeles law firm of Reish, Luftman, Reicher & Cohen and Senior Litigation Associate at the Los Angeles law firm of Hinojosa & Wallet.

Some examples of her trust and estate litigation experiences are:

  • Determination of competing rights to inherit from estate

  • Recovery of property belonging to estate or trust

  • Defense of executors and trustees with respect to management of trust or estate assets

  • Breach of fiduciary duties actions

  • Defense of or invalidation of will and trust documents

  • Disputes between charities and families concerning rights to estate

  • Will and trust contests concerning allegations based on forgery, lack of undue influence, lack of due execution, revocation and invalidated transfers

  • Disputes concerning trustee discretion and prudent investment of trust assets

  • Application and interpretation of no-contest clauses

  • Disputes concerning parent/child relationships with respect to rights to inherit

  • Validity and ratification of power of attorney acts

  • Recovery of estate assets from escheat to the state of California

  • Disputes concerning conservatorship and the capacity of a proposed conservatee to choose their own legal counsel

PUBLISHED DECISIONS

The following decisions from the California Supreme Court and California Court of Appeals:

  • Estate of McGuigan (2000) 83 Cal. App. 4th 639

  • Estate of Rabinowitz (2003) 114 Cal. App. 4th 635

  • Estate of Saueressig (2004) 122 Cal. App. 4th 1086 (review granted)

  • Estate of Saueressig (2006) 38 Cal. 4th 1045

ADMISSIONS

  • State Bar of California 1996

  • United States District Court, Central District of California 1996

  • Hawaii State Bar, Pro Hac Vice Admission, 2008

EDUCATION AND AWARDS

Trudi earned her J.D. from Whittier College School of Law in 1996 graduating in the top 15% of her class receiving the American Jurisprudence Award in both Advanced Legal Writing and Forensic Evidence. She received her B.A. degree in Liberal studies with a minor in political science from California State University, Northridge in 1993.