New Jersey Estate & Trust Litigation

Michael R. Griffinger is a Director in the Business & Commercial Litigation Department of Gibbons P.C. in Newark, NJ, and a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, the International Academy of Trial Lawyers, and the American Bar Foundation. Mr. Griffinger has been an active litigator for nearly 50 years. His practice is focused primarily on sophisticated corporate and commercial disputes, securities litigation, antitrust matters, as well as estate litigation. He frequently defends both fiduciaries and beneficiaries in estate disputes. He has conducted trials and hearings in federal and state courts throughout the United States.

Regularly included in the Best Lawyers® annual guide, Mr. Griffinger has been selected for inclusion by his peers in seven different categories, including Litigation – Trusts and Estates, for many years, including the current edition. He has also been listed in the most recent editions of New Jersey Super Lawyers, where he has been listed among the top 10 lawyers in the state, and the top tier in Chambers USA. In 2013, he received the New Jersey State Bar Foundation’s Medal of Honor Award. He received the Brennan Award from the Association of the Federal Bar of NJ in 2010, as well as the Trial Bar Award from the Trial Attorneys of New Jersey in that year. The New Jersey Law Journal gave him its Lifetime Achievement Award in 2016 and NJBIZ named him an Icon in 2013, the inaugural year of this award.

Mr. Griffinger earned his J.D. from Columbia University School of Law, M.B.A. from Columbia School of Business, and B.A. from Cornell University.
Mr. Griffinger is a frequent lecturer for organizations, including the Institute for Continuing Legal Education and Practising Law Institute. He has been active in the New Jersey State Bar Association, having served as a Trustee as well as the Chairman of the Judicial and Prosecutorial Appointments Committee.


About the Contributor

Rita M. Danylchuk is counsel to Gibbons, P.C. and a member of the Corporate Department and Chair of the Trusts and Estate Practice Group. She represents numerous clients in all areas of trust and estate planning, charitable giving and estate administration. Danylchuk is a Certified Public Accountant in New Jersey (currently inactive) and a member of the Bars of the States of New York and New Jersey. She has lectured frequently on estate planning and estate administration and published numerous trusts and estates articles.

Danylchuk earned her J.D. from Washington University School of Law, her L.L.M in Taxation from New York University and her B.S. from Boston College.

The idea and the greater part of the original edition of this book were the work product of Paul F. Cullum III. He received much help from his mentor, Michael R. Griffinger and from his then-colleagues at Gibbons LLC, Cathleen T. Butler and Rita M. Danylchuk, but he conceived the structure and crafted the details.

At the time of his death on November 3, 2012, Cullum was a partner in LeClairRyan’s Litigation Group, where his complex litigation practice focused on estate litigation and general commercial business litigation. He represented clients in numerous estate and intestate litigation matters concerning many of the areas cited in this book. In addition, he represented trustees and clients in guardianship and conservatorship proceedings.

Cullum was recognized in 2010, 2011 and 2012 as a “New Jersey Super Lawyer” for his work in the trust and estate litigation practice areas. Cullum was appointed and had served for many years as a panelist on the Early Settlement Program, Essex County, Chancery Division, Probate Part. He also wrote and published many journal articles on the subject

matter of estate litigation.

Cullum was a frequent lecturer in the areas of estate litigation. He was a member of the Peninsula Estate Planning Council in the Commonwealth of Virginia. He was also AV® Peer Review Rated by Martindale-Hubbell.

Cullum was a graduate of Seton Hall University Law School, cum laude, Monmouth College (M.B.A.) and the College of William & Mary. He was admitted to practice law in New Jersey, New York, District of Columbia, and Virginia.

Cullum passed away on November 3, 2012.