Case Results
Representative Cases
I have won cases I should have lost, and I have lost cases I should have won. Risk is involved whenever you take a case to trial. That said, below is a sample of the probate, trust, civil, and tax cases I have handled, to give you a sense of the experience we can bring to your case. Past results do not guarantee a similar outcome in your case or any future matter.
Ten representative matters
Probate & Trust Cases
Limited Conservatorship
Trial verdict, San Diego Superior Court, Probate Division. Court-appointed attorney for a developmentally disabled adult who chose to live with a relative rather than his father. Decision for the disabled adult.
The Case of the Bad Trustee
Trial verdict, San Diego Superior Court, Probate Division. Removal of a trustee who breached his fiduciary duty to his sisters. Surcharge verdict against the trustee for $222,000 of his share of the trust. $161,256 recovery for the client, plus $105,293 in common fund attorney fees awarded to the client.
Sons of Anarchy
San Diego Superior Court, Probate Division. A bitter brotherly dispute over a father’s personal property, a Harley Davidson, motorcycle chaps, and the division of inheritance from the sale of the father’s home. Negotiated a $110,000 distribution for the client after an all-day mediation. My client and his brother walked out of the mediation as friends. His brother passed away shortly after, and my client was grateful he made peace with him before his death.
Trial to Appoint a Neutral, Fair Trustee
Trial verdict, San Diego Superior Court, Probate Division. Trial to appoint a neutral, professional trustee rather than a trust beneficiary. Chula Vista vacant land was appraised by the opposing beneficiary at $1,600,000, with a settlement offer of $400,000. The neutral trustee sold the property for $3,100,000. $750,000 recovery for the client.
The Case of the Black Widow
Civil murder case. The new wife of a prominent psychologist was accused, though not yet arrested or charged at the time of our litigation, of strangling and murdering her husband for financial gain, including life insurance benefits. We argued that California Probate Code sections 250 and 252 precluded her recovery of insurance benefits for killing her husband, and we turned our discovery, depositions, and documents over to the authorities. After our case concluded, she was charged, prosecuted, found guilty of murder, and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Riverside, California. Representation of the decedent’s daughter. $190,000+ recovery.
Practice Administrator Court Appointment
Qualified for appointment by the San Diego Superior Court, Probate Division, as the Practice Administrator to wind down a deceased California bar member’s substantial workers’ compensation law office.
Practice Administrator, Second Appointment
Qualified for a second appointment by the San Diego Superior Court, Probate Division, as Practice Administrator to wind down a deceased California probate attorney’s probate and estate planning law firm.
Removal of a Ventura County Probate Administrator
The decedent passed away in 2006 and an administrator was appointed in 2007. The administrator, a lay family member, failed to close the estate for eleven years, where most California probate courts expect a case to close in one to two years. Our firm petitioned to remove him and to compel an accounting for eleven years of administration. We sold the probate real estate, prepared eleven years of fiduciary 1041 tax returns, and closed the estate. The matter presented a complex international law question, because the decedent was a Taiwanese citizen and resident whose only tie to California was his real estate, so we worked with Taiwanese counsel to determine whether Taiwan probate law or California community property law applied.
Removal of a Dilatory San Diego Probate Administrator
A San Diego probate administrator was removed by the court for failing to close the case in over four years. Our firm was appointed to administer the estate in October 2018. We sold the decedent’s condominium, prepared and filed four years of IRS 1041 and Franchise Tax Board 541 fiduciary tax returns, and closed the estate, start to finish, in ten months, on August 20, 2019.
The Case of the Thirty-Year-Old Hockey Skates
Trust administration litigation. Fierce litigation between siblings over two separate trusts created by the clients’ parents. The dispute centered on which assets were funded into each trust, because the distribution provisions differed. This Orange County matter settled by a round-robin procedure to divide the parents’ personal property, including a pair of thirty-year-old hockey skates. Picture four lawyers at their hourly rates and their clients arguing for hours over garage-sale belongings. We had the litigants draw straws: the long straw chose first, the next longest second, and in the second round the one who drew the short straw chose first. The case taught us to listen to our clients, to respect the sentimental value of family belongings, and to build an out-of-the-box settlement tool.
Eight representative matters
Civil Litigation & Trial Cases
American Airlines Flight 965, Cali, Colombia
Jurisdiction. Florida, Southern District
Client. American Airlines
Nature of the case. An airline accident (December 20, 1995) with issues concerning the flight control computer, the database within it, navigation, and waypoints. Several companies and many computer systems were involved.
Nature of engagement. Assistant outside associate. Analyzed legal theories available to American Airlines against the supplier of the database and flight management system, supported pleading options for the crossclaim, and handled review, analysis, and OCR of data for trial.
Represented by. Sullivan, Johnson & Manfredi, Los Angeles, CA
Status. Jury verdict finding the database supplier and flight computer manufacturer partially responsible for the crash, June 2000. (Not trial counsel in this matter.)
Oceanfront Condominium "Reservation" Contract
Jurisdiction. San Diego Superior Court
Client. Confidential
Nature of the case. A developer offered a "reservation" rather than a firm contract to purchase an oceanfront condominium for $825,000 during the planning phase. When values rose after construction, the developer insisted the contract was merely a reservation, not binding.
Nature of engagement. Trial lawyer.
Status. The court denied the developer’s motion to remove the buyer’s lis pendens, and the developer was held to his agreement to sell for the original $825,000 price.
Cellular Anti-Trust Litigation
Jurisdiction. Confidential
Client. Confidential
Nature of the case. The plaintiff alleged that cellular service providers conspired to fix prices and to engage in unfair bundling, requiring customers to buy certain service in order to purchase a particular phone.
Nature of engagement. Trial lawyer, responsible for technical capacity issues.
Status. Settled in 1996. Confidential settlement.
The Case of the TV Evangelist
Jurisdiction. San Diego Superior Court
Client. Confidential
Nature of the case. Representation of an elderly couple who were told they would be "ministers" and reside at a world-class "church" in San Diego if they signed over their Colorado home and life savings. They ended up broke and living in a small, hot apartment in Hillcrest.
Nature of engagement. Trial lawyer.
Status. Confidential settlement, circa 1988. The clients were able to move out of their hot apartment.
$193,000 Jury Verdict: Fraud & Breach of Contract
Jurisdiction. San Diego Superior Court
Client. Confidential
Nature of the case. A caterer and live-in significant other promised to pay $130,000 to my client in exchange for the client signing over title to a jointly owned condominium.
Nature of engagement. Trial lawyer.
Status. Jury verdict for the client of $130,000 plus $60,000 in punitive damages. Proved fraud without intent to perform the contract.
$134,000 Jury Verdict: Personal Injury
Jurisdiction. San Diego Superior Court
Nature of the case. The client was an exceptional softball player who earned a full scholarship to Florida State University, where she intended to become a coach. Just before starting college she was struck by two automobiles in two separate accidents weeks apart, sustaining soft tissue injuries and a keloid scar on her left knee.
Nature of engagement. Trial lawyer.
Status. Jury verdict for $134,000.
$230,000 Jury Verdict: Medical Malpractice
Jurisdiction. San Diego Superior Court, El Cajon (co-counsel, second chair)
Client. Confidential
Nature of the case. The client alleged that the defendant podiatrist rushed to surgically remove a sesamoid bone in her foot without exploring typical conservative care.
Opposing counsel. Paul Pfingst, Higgs, Fletcher & Mack
Status. $230,000 jury verdict.
Defense of an Engineering Firm: Breach of Contract
Jurisdiction. San Bernardino Superior Court
Case. J.D. Pierce Company, Inc. v. Ludwig Engineering, Inc.
Nature of the case. Breach of contract on an engineering contract regarding a tract of land. The plaintiff sought $1,174,754.40, including a $992,918 lost profits and interest claim. We successfully defended the lost profits and interest claim; the plaintiff prevailed only on its breach of contract claim for $148,876.62.
Nature of engagement. Trial lawyer, bench trial.
Ten representative matters
Tax Cases
As a Certified Tax Law Specialist with an LL.M. in Taxation, Mr. Bauman handles the tax questions that arise in estate and trust matters, and represents clients before the IRS, the U.S. Tax Court, and the California Franchise Tax Board.
Federal Estate Tax Return, Form 706
Prepared an IRS Form 706 estate tax return for a trust administration where the gross estate was just under the 2018 federal estate exclusion of $11,200,000. Working with our CPA, we used available deductions to result in no federal estate tax owed, and allocated the properties under the Parent-Child Exclusion and Proposition 13.
$700,000 IRS Assessment Reversed
$489,000 IRS tax liability reversed and the client found to be due a refund. $110,000 failure-to-file penalty abated. $46,000 failure-to-pay penalty abated. March 2009.
$129,997 IRS Innocent Spouse Relief
Represented the divorced innocent spouse of a San Diego accountant whose husband was convicted of embezzlement due to a gambling addiction. IRS innocent spouse relief was granted for abatement of $129,997 in 1040 income tax, plus IRS failure-to-pay penalties and interest. December 2007.
$200,000 Innocent Spouse Income Shift
Over $200,000 of California Lottery gambling income attributed to the wife after divorce was shifted to the husband, with tax, penalty, and interest savings of over $100,000.
$129,000 Discharge of Indebtedness Income Removed
The client was found not liable for tax on a $129,000 IRS tax deficiency after default on a mortgage. Internal Revenue Code section 108 applied to exclude the deficiency as discharge-of-indebtedness income.
$75,000 IRS Failure-to-File Penalty Abated
Stock options were exercised and the IRS 1040 return was not filed by April 15. The $75,000 IRS failure-to-file penalty and the interest on it were completely abated for the client.
California Use Tax Deferred & IRS Penalty Abated
A California use tax exemption was applied to defer $38,000 of California use tax on the import of an expensive vehicle. In a separate matter, a $16,300 IRS late-filing penalty and the interest on it were completely abated.
Penalties Abated & FTB Innocent Spouse Relief
A $4,573 IRS late-filing penalty and interest abated. A $9,253 IRS accuracy-related penalty and interest abated. And $16,834 in California income tax, interest, and penalties abated for a California innocent spouse before the Franchise Tax Board. October 2008.
Medicare Audit Reversed
Reversed $110,000 of a $120,000 Medicare deficiency assessed against a psychiatrist.
U.S. Tax Court: IRS Audit of a Prominent Physician
A $495,537 proposed IRS tax increase on audit was reversed. A $60,872 failure-to-file penalty, a $40,581 failure-to-pay penalty, and a $5,520 estimated tax penalty were all abated. The physician client received a $2,202.77 refund.
Have a probate, trust, or tax matter to discuss?
Past results do not guarantee a similar outcome in your case or any future matter.