Howard J. Franco

Howard J. Franco Jr., an attorney at Collins + Collins LLP, began his career as a law clerk in the early 1980s, working for a solo attorney.

“It started in a room without windows, musty old files, a landline phone and a phone book. My how times have changed,” he said.

His job was to find heirs and try to get them to agree in contested matters to resolve their differences. After returning to law school, Franco Jr. took wills and trusts and dreaded the rule against perpetuities. He was grateful it was neither on the final exam that semester or the 1984 summer bar exam.

After taking his first job with a litigation firm in early 1985, Franco Jr.’s very first file of his own was a legal malpractice case. He represented the lawyer and the trust violated the rule against perpetuities. Franco, Jr. spotted it, but unfortunately, his client did not. Instead of litigating an expensive case, Franco Jr. called his opposing counsel and suggested that they get the heirs together and attempt to reform the trust around the rule against perpetuities problem. It worked, and it took $5,000 and about three to four months to fix the problem. For the following 39 years, the defense of legal professionals has always been a component of Franco Jr.’s practice.

Some of his recent work entailed a pre-claim matter, where many lawyers fail to recognize that they can prevent a malpractice case if they get help early.

“Many malpractice insurers have an additional coverage to assist,” Franco Jr. said. “This one involved correction of an assumption which involved an intestate succession case. The result saved the attorney-client from an exposure in excess of their limits and allowed the correct family member to receive the corpus of the estate.”

The second case was a dismissal of a State Bar matter for a client that had previously not responded to their inquiries involving a real estate case. Franco Jr. emphasized the importance of not ignoring the State Bar, as it places the subject attorney and their counsel in a difficult position and potentially compromises the prospect of a favorable outcome. A thorough, expedited assessment and full disclosure, together with restoring respect for State Bar counsel, led to a favorable outcome.

Franco Jr. also mentioned significant challenges they had to overcome, including client detachment. For both the pre-claim and the State Bar matter, it was a challenge to get the clients to see the matter as something other than a personal affront. Franco Jr. believes that no one is perfect, but correction is not a conviction.

Franco Jr. said trends in the field that need to be addressed are, “The consideration and use of artificial intelligence in an ethical context to preserve client confidentiality, candor to the court and integrity for the profession.”