Attorney Profile

Michael C. Ferguson

Michael Ferguson

Ferguson & Berland, P.C.
1816 5th Street
Berkeley, CA 94710
Contact Contact Michael C. Ferguson
T: 510-548-9005
F: 510-548-3143
Practice areas: Estate Planning & Probate (100%)

Profile

BA, Univ of California, Berkeley 1965 (Honors in Economics); JD, Boalt 1968 (Note and Comment Editor on California Law Review/Order of the Coif); Adjunct Professor at Boalt (Wills & Trusts, 1994-present); Adjunct Professor at St. Mary's College Graduate School of Business, Moraga, CA (Business Law, 1984-90); Fellow, American College of Trust & Estate Counsel (1989-present); Certified Estate Planning, Probate and Trust Law Specialist by the California State Board of Legal Specialization (1992-present); Member, California State Bar Board of Legal Specialization 1988-present (Chair, Estate Planning and Probate Law Advisory Commission 1990-92; Chair, Board of Legal Specialization 1994); American Bar Association Standing Committe on Legal Specialization 1996-99; Chair, Rockridge Health Care Plan (a CA HMO serving a large MediCal population) 1976-86; Member, Prospect Shcool Board 1981-2000 (Chair 1987-97); Extensive writing and teaching; 4 sons.

Selected to:

Northern California Super Lawyers 2009
Northern California Super Lawyers 2008
Northern California Super Lawyers 2007
Northern California Super Lawyers 2006
Northern California Super Lawyers 2005

About Michael Ferguson

Admitted: 1969, California

Professional Webpage: members.calbar.ca.gov/search/member_detail.aspx?x=42797

Honors and Awards: Boalt Hall, Law Review/Order of the Coif, 1967
Special Licenses/Certifications: Certified Estate Planning, Probate and Trust Law Specialists, CA State Bar Board of Legal Specialization, 1992
Bar/Professional Activity: Member, CA State Bar Board of Legal Specialization , 1988
Scholarly Lectures and Writings: I have written an extensive chapter on Living Trusts, published as part of West’s comprehensive text on California Trust Law (1999); an essay entitled “What are Ethics? And Why should we worry about them anyway?;” have assembled (and edited) extensive materials for various CEB classes on Ethical and Malpractice Considerations in Estate Planning and other T&E related topics; have written  and taught extensively on Drafting Wills & Trusts; have published an article entitled “Proving Death Without A Body” in the August, 1991, CEB Estate Planning Newsletter; have (with Warren Sinsheimer) authored an irregular “Back to the Basics” column for the State Bar’s Estate Planning Trust & Probate Law Section newsletter; and have (as a law student) written a pedantic foray into the backwaters of procedural law for the California Law Review--which foray is best forgotten
Video: Presentation of the Changing Nature of the Family.  1 hr 10 min with dead air for the first two minutes., https://www.law.berkeley.edu/news/multimedia/2006/audio/Estate%20Planning.mp3, 2006
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Gillin, Jacobson, Ellis and Larsen
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