Call for Participants for a SEALS 2020 (July
30-Aug 5, Ft. Lauderdale Marriott) Discussion Group.
Interdisciplinary
Problem-Solving: the Curious Case of Jeffrey Epstein
Jeffrey Edward Epstein was an
American financier and convicted sex offender. On August 8, 2019, Epstein
reportedly executed a will (https://www.scribd.com/document/422423833/Jeffrey-Epstein-will#download&from_embed) that gave his vast wealth ($577
million) to a trust, dated the same day of the will. See https://time.com/5656776/jeffrey-epstein-will-estate/. At the time, Epstein was
imprisoned, while facing trial for allegations of sexual assaults and sex
trafficking. Two days later, he reportedly committed suicide by hanging himself
in his jail cell.
This episode raises both legal
and ethics issues relating to the use of a trust to shield a settlor’s assets
from the claims of sexual abuse victims. Fraudulent conveyance seems like a
logical avenue for legal analysis, while analogizing the trust to a limited
liability entity like a corporation or limited liability company also may
provide insights.
As law schools are required to
establish learning outcomes that prepare students for real world practice, it
is essential that students learn lawyering skill that require interdisciplinary
analysis of the law and devise creative arguments to promote their clients’
goals, to attack or to defend the asset protection nature of a trust.
This discussion group explores
how to teach creative problem-solving skills, by exploring the
intersectionality of criminal law, trust laws, and corporate entity theory. For
example, can “piercing the corporate veil” jurisprudence provide a winning
argument as to why a court can or should disregard traditional trust law
protection against sexual abuse claims of sexual assault by the trust settlor?
Such a discussion might show the need for a novel approach to teaching
problem-solving, one that is not limited to a narrow legal area of law.
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