Steven P. Braccini

Steven P. Braccini is a partner in the Business Trial Practice Group in the firm's Silicon Valley office.

Areas of Practice

Steve's practice focuses on trust, probate and conservatorship litigation including, but not limited to:

• Will contests
• Trust contests
• Removal and surcharge actions
• Contested conservatorships
• Accounting disputes
• Financial elder abuse actions
• Reformation or modification actions
• Tax controversy
• Related “civil” claims

Steve also has an appellate practice and has presented numerous seminars and workshops on issues related to trust and estate litigation.

Experience

• During the defense of a will contest at trial, prevailed on a motion for judgment. Affirmed on appeal.
• Following a trial on financial elder abuse claims, obtained a judgment in excess of $25 Million. Defendant settled after judgment and filed for bankruptcy.
• During post-trial proceedings involving breach of fiduciary duty claims, successfully persuading the Court that the opposing party violated a trust’s no contest clause and forfeited any interest in the trust. Affirmed on appeal. 
• Following trial, obtained a judgment modifying a trust.
• Prevailed on an “anti-SLAPP” motion, resulting in the trial court’s striking of a petition. Affirmed on appeal. 
• During a jury trial, obtained a judgment of nonsuit in favor of his client, the trustee of a family trust, who was accused of engaging in financial elder abuse causing damages in excess of $50 million. 
• Obtained a judgment cancelling a 98‑year lease on behalf of his clients following a two-week bench trial. 
• Obtained judgment in favor of client involving a dispute over who was the intended beneficiary of an ambiguous residuary clause in a Trust, valued in excess of $5 million, following a multiple-day bench trial.
• Obtained summary judgment, which was later affirmed on appeal, on behalf of clients in a case involving the voiding of a marriage after death. 
• In an action spanning two different counties and seven petitions, obtained a very favorable “global settlement” increasing his client’s share in a $24 million apartment complex by $3 million while simultaneously extricating client from all potential liability.

Honors

Best Lawyers in America, Best Lawyers, 2024-2026

Northern California Super Lawyer, Super Lawyers, 2019-2021, 2023-2025

Media Mentions

Speaking Engagements

• "Anticipating and Resolving Trust and Estates Disputes," San Francisco Estate Planning Council and Golden Gate University, May 31, 2019
• "Daddy Lost His Marbles, Now What? — A Primer on Financial Elder Abuse and Capacity," Peninsula Estate Planning Council, January 2018
• "Dispute Resolution, Communication, Mediation, Litigation," Kasner Symposium, Panelist September 2017
• "The Only Constant is Change: Giraldin, Drake v. Pinkham and an Aging Population," State Bar of California (Webinar), Lecturer May 2016
• Funky Credit Day, Ethics and Probate, San Mateo County Bar Association, Co‑presenter January 2016
• Ethics and Probate "The Old Man and the Three," San Mateo County Bar Association, Co‑presenter January 2015
• "Strategies in Commencing an Elder Abuse Case"; "Successfully Mediating an Elder Abuse Case"; "Trying an Elder Abuse Case," 34th Annual Southern California Estate & Tax Planning Forum, Co‑presenter October 2014
• "Beyond the Four Corners: Extrinsic Evidence and Will Construction in Light of Estate of Duke," Silicon Valley Bar Association, Co‑presenter September 2014
• "Fiduciaries Gone Wild: Breach of Trust and Financial Elder Abuse," Palo Alto Area Bar Association, August 2014
• "Attorneys’ Fees in Probates, Trusts and Conservatorships," State Bar of California Trusts and Estates Section, 2014 Summer Education Conference, Co‑presenter, May 2014
• "A Practitioner’s Minefield: Elder Abuse and Ethical Issues Arising in the Trusts and Estates Arena," Legal Assistance for Seniors – 9th Annual Conference on Elder Abuse, UC Hastings College of the Law, Co‑presenter May 2014
• "Crossover Issues Between Probate and Family Law," San Mateo County Bar Association, Co‑presenter May 2014
• "The Metrics for Determining the Amount of Attorneys’ Fees in Probate," San Mateo County Bar Association, Co‑presenter April 2014
• "Minimizing Litigation Risks in Trust & Estate Administration," Financial Planning Forum, Palo Alto, September 2013
• "Before and After: A Trustee’s Duties to Residual Beneficiaries Before a Trustor’s Death (And After Estate of Giraldin)," San Mateo County Bar Association, Co‑presenter September 2012
• "The Perils of ‘Mail Order’ Estate Plans," San Mateo County Bar Association, Estate Planning Section (Young Lawyers subsection), April 2012

Events

Memberships

American College of Trusts & Estates Counsel (ACTEC), Fellow

San Mateo County Bar Association, Estate Planning and Probate Section, Chair (2016-2017)

REACH Youth Scholarships, Board Member

State Bar of California Trusts & Estates Section Executive Committee, Bench/Bar Subcommittee Member

Silicon Valley Bar Association

San Francisco Estate Planning Council

St. Christopher Catholic Church, Lector