HISTORY OF OUR FIRM

 The Firm's founding partners, Nathan E. Gillin (deceased) and S.Dell Scott (deceased), commenced practicing law in 1932 and 1948, respectively. In 1958, they formed the law firm of Gillin & Scott. Glenn M. Alperstein (retired) joined them in 1962 and in 1966 became a partner. Joel M. Simon joined in 1978 and became a partner in 1989. The Firm continued to practice under the name of Gillin, Scott, Alperstein, Glantz, Simon & Nielsen, A Law Corporation until March 31, 2000 at which time the members voluntarily separated. Alperstein, Simon, Farkas, Gillin & Scott, LLP is one of two successor law firms resulting from the voluntary separation, effective as of April 1, 2000. Scott M. Farkas joined the Firm in 2001, and today carries on the excellent estate planning services provided by the Firm for over forty years.

The members of Alperstein, Simon, Farkas, Gillin & Scott, LLP perform a wide range of legal services. They and their staff employees have a 20 year average length of continuous employment with the firm (and its predecessor firm). However, due to the complexity of our system of laws, each of its attorneys tend to concentrate in certain areas, specifically estate and gift tax planning and tax controversy matters, probate, trust law, real estate and business litigation and transactional matters. Some of these areas overlap, thereby requiring the services of more than one of its members. This coordination provides the client with the best possible legal advice and documentation, consistent with sound business and professional practice.

 OUR FOUNDERS – A RICH HISTORY OF SERVICE

GLENN M. ALPERSTEIN (Retired)

Glenn M. Alperstein (av rated in Martindale-Hubbell) graduated from UCLA (B.S. Business Administration) in 1957 and obtained his law degree from Boalt Hall, U.C. Berkley, in 1960. Glenn joined our predecessor firm of Gillin & Scott in 1962. After 45 years of dedicated and loyal service, Glenn retired from the Firm on December 31, 2008. Glenn was widely recognized as an icon within the estate planning community as a highly competent attorney capable of highly sophisticated planning. Above all Glenn was a true counselor at law and advisor for his clients, providing valued advise and judgment in family and business matters of every nature. Today the members of the Firm are the embodiment of Glenn's tutelage and vision of being true counselors at law for our clients. His membership and participation in numerous bar and legal professional committee memberships including the Section of Taxation of the American Bar Association;  the Estate Counselor's Forum of Century City; the Jewish Community Foundation Committee on Taxes & Legal Matters; Past President of the Estate Counselor's Forum; Past President of the Hollywood Bar Association; Past President of the Hollywood Estate Planning Council. Glenn was for many years a Certified Tax Specialist under the California State Bar Board of Legal Specialization and a Member of the elite national estate planning and retirement plan counsel, "The Group". Glenn was also a former instructor in Probate Administration in the Probate Paralegal Program at University of West Los Angeles; he was a licensed teacher in the Los Angeles Adult Education Program and former instructor (for over nine years) on the subjects of "Wills, Trusts and Estates" and "Legal Problems of the Family". Glenn was a frequent guest lecturer at tax institutes, including the California State Bar's Continuing Education of the Bar (CEB) programs, estate planning councils, certified life underwriter meetings and other organizations; and author of numerous articles on estate, gift and generation-skipping transfer planning, post mortem tax and trust matters and all interrelated tax aspects thereof, including income and estate tax planning for distributions from qualified and non-qualified retirement plans.

S. DELL SCOTT (Deceased)

S. Dell Scott graduated from the University of Chicago in 1942 and obtained his law degree in 1947 from its School of Law, where he served on the Law Review. Mr. Scott was a founding member of our predecessor firm and practiced closely on associations with Glenn and was mentor to Joel M. Simon since 1962 and 1978 respectively. He was a member of the American Bar Association, American Trial Lawyers Association and the Association of Business Trial Lawyers. He served as a Trustee of the Los Angeles County Bar Association and was a former President of the Hollywood Bar Association. During his twenty years of service as a member of the Board of Directors of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California he served as a member of its Executive Committee, as Vice Chairman of its Legal and Claims Committee and as a member of its Water Problem Committee. Mr. Scott's areas of specialization included administrative law matters, structuring major business and real estate transactions, handling complex business and marital dissolution litigations. In his practice, he represented major American and International companies. 

NATHAN E. GILLIN (Deceased)

Nathan E. Gillin was a founding member of our predecessor firm.  His legal career, (spanning from 1932 through his retirement in the late 1980's) encompassed complex real estate transactions, including the formation of real estate syndicates, providing a broad range of advice to business clients, coordinating with the other members of the Firm in connection with income, estate and gift tax problems involving real estate transactions. On October 22, 1996 Nathan E. Gillin, passed away. He will be missed by all of us, but the quality and expertise that he instilled in this Firm will always continue.