Keystone would like congratulate partners Shawn Kerendian and Joshua Taylor, and Of Counsel Verlan Kwan for being awarded the honor of “Super Lawyer” by Super Lawyers, a top legal magazine. Over the past year, Shawn, Josh and Verlan have each overseen numerous probate matters that culminated in resounding victories for its clients. Their contributions have helped propel Keystone to its current status – one of the top law firms in California practicing exclusively in probate. Their vast legal knowledge, ingenuity and dedication is routinely praised by their clients and colleagues alike. We are grateful to Shawn, Josh and Verlan for their hard work and cannot think of anyone more deserving of these accolades.
This is the second consecutive year that Managing Partner Shawn Kerendian has been named as a “Super Lawyer.” The same magazine had recognized him as a “Rising Star” from 2016-2019. Shawn is the founder of Keystone Law Group and created the firm as a niche practice specializing exclusively in probate, trust and estate matters to provide clients with focused and efficient legal services. Shawn has represented estates worth an excess of $50 million and serves a wide variety of clients, including beneficiaries, heirs, trustees, executors, administrators, conservators and creditors. He has been named as a “Top 40 Under 40” attorney by Daily Journal, California’s premier legal publication, and he is AV-Rated by his peers on Martindale-Hubbell for exhibiting the highest level of professional excellence. He has presented on probate topics at the USC Leventhal School of Accounting and with the National Business Institute, among other venues. He is a Certified Specialist in Estate Planning, Trust & Probate Law (Board of Legal Specialization, State Bar of California).
This is the second consecutive year that Partner Joshua Taylor has received the honor of “Super Lawyer.” With nearly two decades of general litigation experience, Josh is the firm’s lead trial counsel. He has been first chair in a myriad of probate-related trials and represents a wide variety of clients – which include trustees, executors, heirs, administrators, conservators, and beneficiaries – in litigated matters valued in excess of $50 million. Prior to joining Keystone, Josh worked for many years as a litigation attorney at an Am Law 100 firm, and held senior litigation positions with several prominent Los Angeles-based nonprofit organizations, where he achieved far-reaching victories for California’s underserved population. Josh is currently working toward becoming a Certified Specialist in Estate Planning, Trust & Probate Law and is applying his strong writing skills to overseeing the firm’s quarterly newsletter. Josh has presented on probate topics at Loyola Law School, the National Business Institute and Los Angeles County Bar Association, among other venues.
This is the fourth consecutive year that Of Counsel Verlan Kwan has been named a “Super Lawyer.” She had also been designated as a “Rising Star” by Super Lawyers in 2016. With more than a decade of litigation experience, Verlan has represented a wide variety of clients – which include trustees, executors, administrators, creditors, heirs and beneficiaries – in complex disputes with assets ranging from several hundreds of thousands of dollars to tens of millions of dollars. Verlan also specializes in advising fiduciaries of high-net-worth estates and trusts, and she has acted as the administrator of estates for foreign heirs and beneficiaries. Prior to joining Keystone, Verlan specialized in complex antitrust litigation and subsequently worked on wage and hour class action matters. Verlan was previously named as one of the “Top Women Attorneys of Southern California” by Los Angeles Magazine and has presented on probate topics with the National Business Institute.
