Monday’s tentative ruling in the battle over the Los Angeles Clippers centered on two arcane provisions of California probate law. Attorneys who specialize in trusts and estates said the precedents that resulted would prove useful even when billions of dollars aren’t at stake.
Los Angeles County, Calif., Superior Court Judge Michael Levanas rejected Clippers owner Donald Sterling’s argument that his estranged wife, Shelly Sterling, conspired with her attorneys to oust him from the family trust that owns the team in furtherance of a $2 billion sale to former Microsoft chief executive officer Steve Ballmer.
