What has been the highlight of your practice over the past 12 months?

In a 7-year legal battle in California, successfully defending the individual trustee chosen by the deceased settlor against multiple malpractice claims over a period of years, and through a successful appeal overturning an erroneous trustee removal with the court upholding the pro-settlor legal principle that a settlor-selected trustee cannot be removed by beneficiaries based on their hostility to the trustee who, inter alia, enforced the settlor’s distribution requirements and limitations against the beneficiaries.

What advice would you give rising stars/new lawyers in the private client world?

Seek out mentors in and outside the trusts and estates field, gain experience in complimentary areas of the law, understand your client’s business and personal goals, and provide practical advice that solves problems and doesn’t just identify them – thereby becoming a trusted advisor to your client.

What is your favourite quote?

" Laws control the lesser man... Right conduct controls the greater one.” Mark Twain

If you were not a lawyer what would your career be?

Writer on food, drink, and travel.

What is your favourite restaurant in the world and what dish would you recommend?

Steirereck in Vienna. The seasonal menu - and recently the Schwarzauer Mountain Trout.
Rick Bayless restaurants in Chicago.
Local seafood restaurants from Honolulu to Vancouver to Hong Kong and Singapore.

What do you do to relax?

Relaxing by a beach or on a boat, enjoying the sun and fresh seafood - with a cool drink in hand. If it rains, classics and history novels are waiting in the wings. Wine tastings, especially Swiss, Austrian, and German reds. All with friends and family.

Who is the most inspiring person you have ever met or worked with?

In law, I had the good fortune to start my international tax and trusts practice at Squire Patton Boggs (then Squire Sanders) and worked with Terry Perris, at the time the firm’s Head of Tax and a former US Supreme Court law clerk. His intellect and passion for learning inspired my life-time practice goals, which were also influenced during my associate years working under Bob Denvir, the Head of Tax at Winston & Strawn, and Tom Fitzgerald, current Chairman of the firm, excellent lawyers and trusted advisors to their clients.

Outside of legal, what is your surprise expert subject?

Though not a native German speaker (or even a student of German), I have learned the songs from Karneval in Cologne/ Köln and sing them in the "Kölsch" dialect, including the song for the local Bundesliga team, FC Köln, earning a chapter in the club’s fan book.