Attorneys

PARTNER

JOHN M. BYRNE received his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California at Los Angeles in 1987 and his Juris Doctor Degree from the University of Notre Dame in 1992. He was admitted to the California Bar in 1992. Mr. Byrne specializes in Trusts & Estates and his practice includes estate planning, trust and probate administration, conservatorships, and trust and probate litigation.

Mr. Byrne is the Immediate Past Chair of the Trusts & Estates Section of the Los Angeles County Bar Association. He has served on the Executive Committee of the Section since 2001 and has been an officer since 2004. In addition, he is serving his fourth year as a Trustee of the Los Angeles County Bar Association and is currently serving his third year on the Finance Committee.

From 2002 to 2003, Mr. Byrne served as the President of the Los Angeles Estate Planning Council, a group founded in 1966 consisting of trusts & estates attorneys, trust officers, accountants, financial planners, life insurance advisors and planned giving officers of various charitable organizations.  He served as an officer of the Council from 2000 to 2005. 

Mr. Byrne is a member of the Chancery Club of Los Angeles founded in 1925 and composed of distinguished lawyers who are also active in professional, civic, and philanthropic organizations.  In addition, he sits on the Board of Directors of Geary's of Beverly Hills.  

In 2004, 2005 and 2006, Mr. Byrne was selected as one of Southern California's "Super Lawyers" by Los Angeles Magazine.

Additionally, Mr. Byrne served as a member of the Los Angeles Superior Court Probate Self-Help Center Team from 2001 to 2003 which drafted several pamphlets  available to the public through the Probate Department to assist Pro Per's in navigating through the Probate Court including the "Transfer of Small Estates without Probate" and the "How to File a Creditor's Claim."

Mr. Byrne periodically volunteered as a Judge Pro Tem of the Los Angeles Superior Court, Small Claims and Traffic Divisions, from 1997 to 2001, and, he regularly assisted as a volunteer attorney for the Guardianship/Conservatorship Pro Per Clinic from 1997 to 2001. 

From 1997 to 1999, immediately prior to joining Hill, Farrer & Burrill, Mr. Byrne served as the Research Attorney for the Probate Department of the Los Angeles Superior Court and worked directly with the Probate Judges in Departments 5 and 11 and with the Probate Attorneys of the Los Angeles Superior Court. 

From 1995 to 1997, as a Research Attorney for the Los Angeles Superior Court, Mr. Byrne covered special assignments for the Court as directed by the Presiding Judge including working full-time with Judge Lance Ito during the O.J. Simpson criminal trial and full-time with Judge Hiroshi Fujisaki during the O.J. Simpson civil trial in Santa Monica.

From 1992 to 1995, Mr. Byrne worked as a Litigation Associate with Rogers & Wells in Los Angeles where he assisted with and/or handled a wide variety of business civil litigation matters.