Inspiring Conversations with Terrence Franklin of Sacks, Glazier, Franklin, Lodise, McMurtrey & Scheerer, LLP

Today we’d like to introduce you to Terrence Franklin.

Terrence, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I was born in Chicago, but have lived in Los Angeles since I moved here after graduation from Harvard Law School in 1989 to join a big law firm. After a few years, I left the big firm for a smaller one specializing in trust and estate litigation. That means I help people fight in court over money and property held in trusts, or transferred on death by wills. Because of the high hourly rates, our firm can only work on cases involving disputes of substantial size (multiple millions of dollars.) When we challenge the validity of will in court, we call it a will contest.

I had been doing trust and estate litigation for over twenty years, when I discovered that there was a will contest in my own family in 1846-1847. That fight was about whether my ancestors would be freed from slavery in Jacksonville, Florida. My great-great-great-great grandfather, John Sutton, a white farmer in Jacksonville, made a will to free my great-great-great-great grandmother who was described in John’s will as a “mulatto slave Lucy, aged about 45.”. The will also freed Lucy’s eight children and six grandchildren, all listed by name and age in the will. But after John died, his brother, Shadrack Sutton filed a case in court arguing that John had been too old, too sick, and too drunk to set Lucy and her children free.

Uncovering the will led me to dig further, until I found the original file for the lawsuit, which included a transcript. The transcript included Lucy’s statement that she feared coming into Shadrack’s hands because he had always threatened to beat her and her children if he ever came to own them. Although Lucy’s words were literally stricken from the record, because Black people couldn’t testify against white people, I believe that Lucy has been guiding me to uncover the original documents, and to give voice to Lucy’s experience.

Since discovering the will and the related file, I have come to understand that my personal mission is to “Bend the Arc of History Towards Justice” by sharing the story of Lucy’s escape from slavery, and others like it, as widely as I can.

I’ve been pursuing that mission, which integrates with my ongoing law practice, through speeches and presentations, including my 2022 Tedx Talk, articles and podcasts. I’m also working on a book that tells how my story and Lucy’s connect. And in the last few years, I was commissioned to create a musical suite that tells Lucy’s story. That project has expanded into a full-length musical that I am co-writing with my husband right now. This past summer, we presented a staged workshop “Love Will Set You Free” — the performance of the opening number, and selected songs from the musical. That performance was filmed and will be featured in a documentary short that is in post-production.

These creative efforts have led me to try other things, including co-producing a short film/music video “Grandpa’s Got a Brand New Pill” a tongue-in-cheek look at a little old lady who wants to make sure that on her 96th birthday that everyone has a happy ending! That short has won numerous awards at festivals around the world, and has screened locally at the LA Diversity Film Festival, the Silicon Beach Festival, the LA Liftoff Festival, and the Great Film Club Rainbow Reels. Recently, our film was the winner of the Nukhu Festival in New York resulting in a development to marketing package for our next project.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Of course there have been struggles along the way. Life is about what we do to overcome our struggles.

Not long after I met my my husband at my first Gay Pride in 2010, he introduced me to Nichiren Buddhism which espouses the belief that all people have unlimited potential that we can bring forth to improve our lives and the lives of others. We do this by chanting “Nam-Myoho-Renge”-Kyo” which roughly translates into “I dedicate myself to the mystic law of cause and effect through sound or vibration.”

For us, challenges and obstacles are an essential part of life and how we overcome them helps us to shape our character. So while my first marriage ended, and I and others around me have experienced pain, illness, setbacks in our work, and the recurring feeling that more should be happening faster to advance the creative goals, my Buddhist practice helps me keep it all in perspective.

When confronted with obstacles, I try to welcome them as opportunities to grow and to develop my character. I know this seems easier said than done. But, once you shift your perspective, and dedicate yourself to overcoming the obstacle, knowing that the infinite potential is within you, the universe begins to shift, helping you to find the way through and to never give up.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
I co-founded this firm in 2001, so we are coming up on our 25th anniversary next May. All of our ten attorneys focus on trust and estate litigation, which makes our little firm fairly unique. Many firms that have trust and estate practices include lawyers who do estate planning. We don’t do estate planning at our firm. Rather, we help address and resolve disputes related to wills and trusts.

The disputes can be very challenging because the issues can be very emotional. Even though adult siblings may be fighting over the control of millions of dollars of real estate, they may also be living out unresolved traumas and skirmishes from childhood. That means that the parties aren’t always rational actors when it comes to participating in the law suit, and making rational economic decisions about how to resolve them. So, having some understanding of this dynamic is important.

Our firm has maintained a solid reputation locally and nationally, earning recognition from entities such as Chambers & Partners rating service for which I was the sole recipient of Chambers and Partners “Lifetime Achievement Award” in 2021 as part of their Diversity and Inclusion Awards: North America. I have also been recognized by Best Lawyers in America, The National Black Lawyers Top 100; Los Angeles Business Journal Most Influential Minority Attorneys and Champion of Mentorship; the Los Angeles Times DEIA Visionary; among others.

How do you define success?
Success has to be defined by and for each person, because each person is unique. For me, success means continuing to grow and develop while working to create value from my interactions with others. I can’t say I achieve it every day, but living with that goal in mind helps keep my priorities straight.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.trustlitigation.la
• Threads: https://www.threads.com/@terrenceterryfranklin
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/terrencefranklin
• Twitter: @terryfranklinla
• Youtube: @Ecnerretm
• Soundcloud: Terry Franklin
• Other: https://linktr.ee/terryfranklin