Probate Attorney Leads SCBA Sections

Providing clients with personalized, creative and principled methods for resolving trust and probate disputes is Deborah Patterson's favorite area of the legal practice at Webb, Patterson and Tapella. These cases, in counties from San Diego County in the south to Shasta County in the north offer a variety of challenging legal issues. The growing area of trust administration is resulting in more litigation against the non-professional trustee. One case Deborah pursued on behalf of four elderly beneficiaries resulted in a judgment against a trustee to recover the distributions that should have been made to the beneficiaries in 1990, plus a judgment of $72,000 for attorney's fees to be charged against the trustee personally. Another case brought on behalf of a gentleman who was under a conservatorship resulted in a judgment against Robert Brogan who was doing business as Liberty Trust and Associates. When Robert Brogan first became acquainted with the conservatee, he determined that the conservatee could not manage his own affairs. Robert Brogan initiated steps to assist the conservatee, and then assisted himself by ending up with the title to the conservatee's home. The property was recovered, even though Brogan declared bankruptcy, and the judgment entered against Brogan was for twice the value of the real property due to the court's finding of bad faith.

Deborah received her Bachelor of Arts degree in 1970 and her Masters degree in education in 1972 from Southern Oregon University (formerly Southern Oregon State College), located in Ashland, Oregon. For those who love Shakespeare, Ashland is the home of the outdoor Oregon Shakespeare Festival, where the students would watch production of plays authored by the Bard. Ashland ski resort is located only 18 miles from the campus, and Deborah started downhill skiing by taking ski classes offered through the college. It was not uncommon for students to arrange class schedules to allow for an open day each week during the winter term, to head to the mountain. Deborah's favorite sport is still skiing, and her husband, Don, and their two grown children, Tiffany and Tim, are avid skiers.

After teaching elementary school in Medford, Oregon and Davis, California, Deborah embarked upon a second career and attended University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law, receiving her law degree in December of 1984. Deborah received the Moot Court Honors Board Award as a finalist in the written Appellate Brief Competition. Deborah credits the support of her husband and her children (who were both under six years of age when she first started classes) for enabling her to complete law school. "Everyone had to make sacrifices, but as all working parents know, you make adjustments and have faith." During law school, the family's faith was put to the test when Tim came down with bacterial meningitis, and miraculously recovered. Deborah was allowed an additional term to complete her classes at McGeorge, and it was at that time Deborah knew she would choose to work for a small law firm that would give high priority to family commitments. Even today, family dinners and trips with her adult children are very special. "They keep me young - Tiffany runs marathons and has actually got me interested in running, and Tim knows so much about nutrition and weight lifting; he was instrumental in getting me to start a weekly weight-training schedule."

Deborah joined Borden Webb's law firm upon being admitted to the California State Bar in 1985, and became a name member of the firm when the name was changed to the Law Offices of Webb, Patterson and Tapella in 1994. Presently, Deborah is the designated litigation attorney for the firm. She is the past president of the Probate and Estate Planning Section of the Sacramento County Bar Association, and is currently the MCLE Chair and liaison to the sections of the Sacramento County Bar Association. While she was president of the Probate and Estate Planning Section, the Probate Section Assistance Clinic was implemented as a joint venture between the Section and Voluntary Legal Services Program of Northern California (VLSP). The clinic is open two days a week at the William R. Ridgeway Family Relations Courthouse, and is operated with the assistance of volunteer attorneys, students and part-time staff attorneys. The clinic is free to those who qualify, and provides legal assistance with guardianships, conservatorships and small estate matters. This clinic is a wonderful asset to our community, in that it allows those persons who do not qualify for legal assistance through VLSP to obtain the necessary legal advice to establish guardianships and conservatorships. The clinic has become a valuable resource for grandparents. This is an exciting year as liaison to the 19 sections of the Sacramento County Bar, since it is the first year there is an employee who provides information for the sections and coordinates events. Tarra Flores was hired as an executive assistant at the Sacramento County Bar, and we are now communicating with the section representatives by e-mail and providing forms for MCLE events online. It is also now easier for section members to learn of events sponsored by each section, and there are written guidelines on how to present seminars through the Sacramento County Bar. If section members wish to see low cost programs offered on specific subjects through the Sacramento County Bar, Deborah or Tarra can be contacted with the request.