RMO, LLP

RMO litigates cases involving contested conservatorships, breaches of fiduciary duty, will contests and other probate-related litigation.

With 17 attorneys in eight offices across California and three other states, the firm is larger than many small firms specializing in the field, but not as big or expensive as a national firm, which founding partner Scott E. Rahn compared to an 800-pound gorilla.

"We're maybe the 500-pound gorilla because this is all we do," he said. "We bring the same muscle. We're like an elite task force."

Earlier this year, the firm obtained a conservatorship over the estate of a young woman who had fallen prey to a "romance fraud" perpetrated by a man in Nigeria she believed loved her. He and several associates over time took more than $2 million from her, Rahn said.

Last year, RMO represented the sister of the late actress, Tanya Roberts, who was administering Roberts' estate when Roberts' boyfriend produced a pair of holographic wills giving him everything. "We came into the case and ... within a month or two negotiated a million-dollar settlement that gave our client a rightful share of the estate and allowed her to finish administering her sister's affairs," Rahn said.

Earlier this year, Orange County-based partner Sean D. Muntz finalized a judgment securing the estate of his client's aunt against a neighbor who had "swooped in and became the self-appointed care provider" and sole beneficiary of the decedent. Muntz demonstrated that the neighbor could not overcome the presumption against a care provider receiving a bequest under a will. Juszig v. Trenary, 30-2018-01029044 (O.C. Super. Ct., filed Oct. 24, 2018).

"We get better results sooner for less legal spend and allow people to move on with their lives," Rahn said about RMO.

Rahn left a big-firm partnership to start the firm in 2015, and a year later, his friend Muntz left a different big-firm partnership to join him.

Now, the firm has offices in Brentwood, Costa Mesa, Pasadena, Westlake Village, San Diego, Houston, Miami and Kansas City, with one in Walnut Creek in the works, Muntz said.

"Our growth has largely been organic," he said. He and Rahn determine where their type of practice makes sense and then, using recruiters, find attorneys in those areas. They look for lawyers who place the client first and aren't "table-pounders" nor litigate for the sake of litigating, he said. "They have to fit well within our culture."

That culture is embodied in four "core values," the two partners said. Those include "lead with empathy," which is especially important because many clients are in mourning.

Another value is "be authentic," which they said means simply to always do the right thing. Another is "stronger together," which means the lawyers support each other as a team.

The last is "zealous efficacy." "We work hard to make sure that we're not losing sight of the clients' bottom lines," Muntz said.

Giovanna O'Connor joined the firm early last year to open RMO's Miami office. She and a colleague primarily handle their own cases separately from the others. But they do work jointly with the California attorneys occasionally, for instance, if there are assets or documents in both states.

But she meets monthly with Muntz, the managing partner, by Zoom "just to be sure all [our] cases are going well," she said. All the firm's attorneys also meet weekly for a "firm huddle," O'Connor said.

"I feel supported. ... I can make decisions on my own, but if I want to run something by them, they're always available," she said.