Rodney C. Lee

Los Angeles

Estates, Trusts & Fiduciary Litigation

During the COVID-19 pandemic when courts were essentially closed, Rodney C. Lee reflected on several black entertainers who died without ironclad estate plans. So, he decided to reach out and help as many high-net worth individuals as he could.

Lee has over 20 years of experience litigating private wealth matters involving athletes, celebrities and business moguls.

"It was a little bit troublesome for me to be in this situation and see John Singleton's estate where he's dying without an updated estate plan or Prince who's dying without an estate plan or the circumstances even surrounding Aretha Franklin's estate plan," he said. "And so as a business-minded lawyer ... I thought it's a shame that all of these African American athletes and entertainers are not getting appropriate advice about estate planning."

Lee made numerous connections for his firm to provide estate plans. One of them was the family of the later rapper Tupac Shakur.

The rapper's affairs were handled by his mother, Afeni Shakur, who died in 2016. Client Tom Whalley is contesting a takeover by Tupac's half-sister, Sekyiwa Shakur.

"They want the trustee removed and they think that he's done something untoward with the assets," Lee said. "I'm demonstrating that he hasn't. There's been nothing untoward done with the assets. They're all intact and being distributed out to the people who are entitled to them in accordance with the terms of the trusts."

Other famous estates Lee has litigated include singers Steve Lawrence and Leonard Cohen, actor Dennis Hopper and the vast wealth of philanthropist Norton Simon.

In the Lawrence case, the singer's affairs were handled by longtime assistant Judy Tanner. Son David Lawrence signed on as co-trustee to assist with his father's health and to make sure the estate's assets were not being improperly spent.

Tannen sued David over claims that he attempted to take over control of all of the singer's assets and Lee defended him in the suit. Lee represented David and opposed the claim, which was dismissed three months later.

In a similar vein, client John Goldstone is accused of conspiring with his wife, Marin Hopper -- daughter of venerable actor Dennis Hopper -- to acquire trust assets at a less-than-fair market value.

"Every family's got their drama, and you don't really get to see the underbelly of a lot of people's families until someone dies and they're fighting about money or power or control," Lee said. "These themes exist even when people die with an estate plan."

--Tori Richards