Jessica A. Uzcategui focuses her practice exclusively on probate litigation, with a particular emphasis on complex trusts and estates. Since joining the firm in 2004, she has tried numerous cases on behalf of individuals, financial institutions, corporate fiduciaries, and nonprofit organizations.

Ms. Uzcategui’s trial experience includes successfully representing a charitable foundation in a multi-million dollar conservatorship case, successfully defending the accounting of a national trust company against a beneficiary’s objections and recovering more than $1 million in attorney’s fees, and successfully obtaining out-of-pocket attorneys’ fees for an individual trustee incurred in removing his co-trustee. Ms. Uzcategui has also obtained favorable settlement results for her clients, including dismissal of claims for breach of fiduciary duty, undue influence, and elder abuse.

Ms. Uzcategui’s expertise makes her a sought-after speaker. She is a frequent panelist at the ABA Real Property, Trust and Estate Law Symposium and has also presented at the Heckerling Institute on Estate Planning, the National Conference of Probate Judges, the American Bankers Association, and numerous other bar associations and conferences.

She serves on the governing Council for the Real Property, Trust and Estate Law section of the ABA, and was selected by the ABA to participate in the inaugural Collaborative Bar Leadership Academy in 2013. Ms. Uzcategui is also a member of the Hispanic National Bar Association, the Latina Lawyers Bar Association and the Women Lawyers Association of Los Angeles. She is a Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC).

She was ranked by Chambers and Partners High Net Worth guide in the Private Wealth Disputes category for 2018. Jessica has been listed in Best Lawyers in America for Trust and Estate Litigation since 2014 and is recognized on the list of Southern California Super Lawyers.

Since 2008, she has served on the Board of Directors for the Harriett Buhai Center for Family Law, an organization that provides comprehensive family law services to low income families in Los Angeles County, including two terms as the Board Chair. She has also volunteered for the Los Angeles County Bar Association (LACBA) Barristers Pro Bono Domestic Violence Project, which recognized her contribution with the Benjamin Aranda III Outstanding Public Service Award in 2008.

Ms. Uzcategui received her J.D. from Harvard Law School and her B.S. from Duke University, where she graduated magna cum laude. Prior to joining Sacks, Glazier, Franklin & Lodise, she practiced as an associate attorney in the Los Angeles office of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart Oliver & Hedges, LLP.