• > We have recovered more than $300 million for our clients
  • > Albertson & Davidson, LLP recovered more than $300 million for our clients

Stewart R. Albertson

Stewart earned his Juris Doctor from Loyola University New Orleans School of Law and went on to earn an LL.M. in tax law from the Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, D.C.

Stewart is a veteran. He served honorably as a paratrooper with the U.S. Army’s 82nd Airborne Division and also spent one year stationed along the DMZ in South Korea with the Second Infantry Division.

Over his career, Stewart has been instrumental in securing more than $300 million in verdicts and settlements for his clients. His successes include a $5.7 million jury verdict in a complex wrongful death case in San Bernardino. He has also achieved major outcomes in high-stakes cases involving product liability and catastrophic personal injury, including the recovery of over $50 million in claims made against medical device manufacturers. His work has been widely recognized; in 2013, he was nominated for the Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles’ Trial Lawyer of the Year and was selected among the National Trial Lawyers Top 100 for three consecutive years.

Beyond his legal career, Stewart is a passionate pilot, holding an instrument rating that enables him to personally fly to client locations across the United States, ensuring convenience and accessibility for his clients. He is also a motorcycle enthusiast, enjoys staying active, and spends his free time hiking, mountain biking, riding, and flying.

Learn more about Stewart’s unique background, from his military service to his love of aviation, in the video discussion below with aviation expert Joe Casey of Casey Aviation. Also, there is a second video below offering a glimpse into his love of flying.

 

Stewart's Credentials
  • California, 2004
  • Louisiana, 2002
  • United States District Court, Central District of California
  • United States District Court, Eastern District of California
  • United States District Court, Northern District of California
  • Georgetown University Law Center, Washington D.C.
    • LL.M., Taxation, 2003
  • Loyola University New Orleans School of Law
    • J.D., 2002
    • Corporate and Tax Law Award
  • Chapman University School of Law
    • Adjunct Professor of Wills and Trusts Law (2009-2015)
  • Loma Linda University, School of Public Health
    • Chair, Dept. of Health Policy and Management (2004-2006)
  • Products liability: Avoiding the “land of the lost”. Stewart R. Albertson, Advocate Magazine (2013)
  • The International Taxation of Dividend Income: A Closer Look at the Bush Administration’s Dividend Exclusion Proposal and Two Proposals Outside of the Classical and Integration? Tax Regimes (Masters Thesis LL.M.; Not Published (2003)
  • Are employer-sponsored tax-deferred 401(k) plans still a good investment? Stewart R. Albertson and S. Eric Anderson, Inland Empire Business Journal (2004)
  • How the motion picture industry miscalculates box office receipts. David Shavlik, S. Eric Anderson, and Stewart R. Albertson, Inland Empire Business Journal (2004)
  • The New Frontier–Contingency Practice for Trust and Will Litigation (2018)
  • Ethics, Malpractice, Litigation…Oh My! Incapacity, Undue Influence and What Estate Planning and Elder Law Attorneys Need to Know (2018)
  • Trust and Will litigation. American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys (2015)
  • Jury Selection. Melvin M. Belli Society, Santa Clara County Trial Lawyers Association (2013)
  • Physician-Assisted Suicide: An Analysis of U.S. Supreme Court Precedent. The Research Channel. Loma Linda University Bioethics Grand Rounds (2005)
  • Estate and Financial Planning Seminar. Loma Linda University and Medical Center (2004 & 2005)
  • Charitable Trusts and Taxation of appreciated property. Redlands Yucaipa Guidance Counseling Association Board Meeting (2003)
    Taxation of Financial Derivatives. Oak League Institute (2003)
  • California State Bar Association
  • Los Angeles County Bar Association
  • The Bar Association of San Francisco
  • San Diego County Bar Association
  • San Mateo County Bar Association
  • Santa Clara County Bar Association
  • The National Trial Lawyers Top 100 Trial Lawyers
  • Consumer Attorneys of California
  • Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles

Stewart R. Albertson - 9 years in Super Lawyers - 4 years in Rising Stars

  • Super Lawyers: 2016 – 2024
  • Rising Stars: 2010 – 2011, 2013 – 2014

  • Martindale- Hubbell Peer Reviewed
Question & Answers

Read Stewart's Answers To Legal Questions From Avvo.com:

Q: Trustee Won’t Make Formal Split of a/b Trust Making “b” Irrevocable, Can He Be Removed for Failure to Perform All Duties?

Father is trustee of a/b trust, won’t give accountings and hasn’t split the trust formally. Deeding and Fed. Tax ID # is non-existent. In the middle of having him compelled to account and removal of fees and costs. It’s been two and half years and no split but he has filed a surviving spouse affidavit. He has ignored all obligations as trustee. What will judge do when shown trustee has not performed duties to enforce terms of trust? He is also not maintaining trust property home that I live in. Is this enough bad fiduciary acts to warrant removal? I am remainder beneficiary, the only child and only beneficiary of B trust. He has given two faulty accountings that I have not accepted because no irrevocable trust appears to exist. I have council but still curious about removal chances.

Stewart's Answer

First, removing a trustee in California is difficult in most cases. And, even if you have the evidence, you have to go through filing a petition with the probate court to remove the trustee, sending written discovery to the trustee, compelling discovery responses where necessary, taking depositions, and ultimately preparing for trial. This will take anywhere from 6 months to 2 years. Almost for certain you’ll need to hire an attorney to help you with this type of litigation. Best of luck.

Q: My Brother is the Executor of My Mother’s Trust. He Forged an Amendment Back Dated 2012 That Leaves Him Everything.

My mother has a Revocable Trust (since 1985). States that everything in her estate will be divided equally between the three of us (her children). In 2012, she Amended the Trust to say that my younger brother would get the house and everything else stays the same. She died in Sept 2014 and my older brother is the Executor. He (Executor), refused to show us or discuss the trust for months, going completely postal any time the subject was mentioned. He completely rewrote the 2012 Amendment to say that he gets everything…100%. He initialed each page with my mom’s initials, then copied the notary page from the actual 2012 document and appended it to his version. It is clearly a scanned image and not part of this document. So the dates match, and the Doc Names match, but this is not the

Stewart's Answer

You’ll need to file a petition to invalidate the 2012 Amendment in the Probate Court. This petition will likely be based on lack of capacity, undue influence, and fraud based on the facts you gave. In addition, you may want to file a civil lawsuit for financial elder abuse against your brother. To do both of these filings it is almost certain that you need to find a lawyer. This is not something that you will be able to do on your own. Best of luck.

Q: Should I Have an Attorney Investigate Whether or Not I Am Named in My Grandparents Trust?

My grandmother died in May, 2014. After she passed, I received a letter from my mother stating that I would be receiving a check for my inheritance. A few weeks later she sent me another letter stating that it would be deposited in an already established account for me. That never happened so i went with her to the bank where the above account was held to withdraw the money. The account held only $4,000.00 and she told me that I was only entitled to half of it-yet she decided to give me the entire amount. I have a statement dated 12-3-12 showing a balance of $7,110.26. My grandparents were extremely wealthy-their Rossmoor condo (3352 Terra Granada Dr APT 1B, Walnut Creek, CA 94595) just sold for $750k. She told me that there was no will and that I am not mentioned in the trust.

Stewart's Answer

Send a letter to your mother asking for a complete copy of the Trust. Mention in the letter that California Probate Code section 16061.7 requires that all family heirs and beneficiaries of the Trust have a right to receive a full copy of the now irrevocable Trust 60 days after your grandmother died. There may, or may not, be a Last Will. If there is, it is likely a pour-over Will that gives everything to the Trust. Thus, it’s important to get a full copy of the Trust to see if you are mentioned as a beneficiary. Good luck.

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