Sean Muntz
Managing Partner
Sean D. Muntz serves as Managing Partner of RMO LLP. He is an experienced trial and appellate lawyer, with litigation experience spanning a broad range of subject matters, including banking, general commercial, employment, probate, real estate, securities, intellectual property, maritime, and environmental disputes. Mr. Muntz has litigated matters in state and federal courts throughout California, and in alternative dispute resolution forums, including AAA and JAMS, and before the NASD/FINRA and Pacific Stock Exchange. His practice focuses on representing beneficiaries, professional and corporate fiduciaries (administrators, executors, trustees, conservators, and guardians) in contested trust, estate, and probate litigation. Mr. Muntz previously was a partner at an international law firm in the firm’s commercial litigation group, where he represented international financial institutions in litigation matters. Prior to that, he worked as in-house counsel for a Fortune 100 aerospace manufacturer. There, Mr. Muntz represented the company in internal and external investigation and compliance matters. He represented the company as a victim of espionage, in the criminal matter of U.S. v. Chung, in which the U.S. District Court handed down the first conviction under the Economic Espionage Act of 1996. For representing the company’s interests, Mr. Muntz received a commendation from the Los Angeles Field Office of the FBI and the FBI Director. He also has worked for a Fortune 100 financial institution as in-house counsel, where he managed and directed national litigation strategy, overseeing hundreds of cases. Mr. Muntz attended the University of Hawaii, where he received his BA in Journalism & Political Science. He then attended the University of Southern California Gould School of Law. Mr. Muntz proudly supports the local community, serving as a volunteer for the Orangewood Foundation and Samueli Academy. He routinely provides thought leadership to the trust and estate community through speaking engagements at both local and national organizations. His exceptional work in the field has led to several accolades, including being named one of the "Best Lawyers in America" in Trusts and Estates by Best Lawyers; an "Orange County Visionary" by the Los Angeles Times; and a "Leader of Influence" Litigators and Trial Lawyers" by the Los Angeles Business Journal.
Scott E. Rahn
Founding Partner
Scott E. Rahn has been litigating contentious probate matters for more than 20 years, the last nine-plus at Los Angeles-based RMO LLP, the law firm he launched in 2015 to focus exclusively on contentious trust, estate, and conservatorship matters. His practice is dedicated solely to representing heirs, beneficiaries, fiduciaries (including individual, private professional, and institutional trustees, executors and conservators), and other interested parties in contested trust, estate, conservatorship, and guardianship matters. Mr. Rahn focuses exclusively on contested estate, probate, and conservatorship administrations that often include disputed appointments, accountings, and failures to appropriately fund sub-trusts, as well as claims for breach of fiduciary duty, misappropriation, fraud, and the like, often leading to suspension and removal efforts; will and trust contests involving claims of incapacity; undue influence, fraud, and financial elder abuse; reformation or modification of irrevocable trusts, decanting, and ever-increasingly contested conservatorships; and power of attorney abuse matters. He is renowned for his ability to navigate the complex intersection of domestic and international probate laws. Mr. Rahn carefully examines testators' intentions, investigates estate assets, and resolves challenging, often emotionally charged family disputes that can span decades. Mr. Rahn started his career at regional law firm, Keesal, Young & Logan, which had a small trusts and estates group that allowed him to get hands-on experience in estate planning, administration and contentious matters. To grow his knowledge base, after six years, he transitioned to Foley & Lardner, where he was able to gain meaningful experience implementing more sophisticated estate planning for the firm’s ultra-high-net-worth clients in their taxable estates, as well as administering and litigating more complex trust and probate estates. Eventually, Mr. Rahn was tapped to lead the Los Angeles office’s trusts and estates group until the 2008 economic collapse led the firm to close the group entirely. He found his way to Greenberg Traurig LLP in Los Angeles, where he worked closely with trusts and estates group leader, Larry Heller, and fine-tuned his practice to focus exclusively on handling contentious pre-litigation, litigation, and administrative matters. Mr. Rahn was elevated to partner in his second year with the firm, and elevated again shortly thereafter, before leaving the firm to launch RMO. Mr. Rahn attended the University of Wisconsin in Madison, graduating with a BA in Spanish & International Latin American Studies. Then, he went on to study law at the University of San Diego School of Law. "Mr. Rahn consistently gives back to the trusts and estates community by providing leadership to and sharing his knowledge and insights with various local and international trust-and-estate-related organizations, including serving on the board and as president of the Beverly Hills Estate Planning Council and as a member of the publications committee for the National Association of Estate Planners & Councils. He has spoken for the Society of Tax and Estate Practitioners; WealthCounsel; ALM Private Client Global Elite; numerous bar associations and estate planning councils throughout California; as well as global industry organizations, covering key issues in the areas of contested probate, trust and estates, conservatorship, guardianship, and elder financial exploitation. Mr. Rahn’s contributions have earned him numerous recognitions over the past many years. He has been named for the third year in a row to the Chambers and Partners “2024 High Net Worth Guide” in Private Wealth Disputes; eighth year to the “Best Lawyers in America” list by Best Lawyers; ninth year to the “Top 100 – Trusts and Estates Litigators” by Super Lawyers; and recently as a “Leading Litigator in America” by Lawdragon."
Uzzell S. Branson IV, Esq.
Senior Attorney
Uzzell S. Branson IV is a Senior Attorney in RMO LLP’s San Diego office. He brings over a decade of experience in probate litigation. His practice focuses on representing heirs, beneficiaries, fiduciaries, creditors and other interested parties in litigated probate, contested conservatorship, and financial elder abuse cases. Beyond litigation, Mr. Branson also has substantial experience in estate planning and private and trust administration. He brings that experience in guiding clients through the probate pre-dispute, litigation, and appellate processes. Mr. Branson attended the University of California, San Diego. He studied law at the University of San Diego School of Law. Prior to RMO LLP, Mr. Branson headed the trust & estates practice at his previous firm, where his work included litigating probate disputes in State courts throughout California and Federal courts in the Southern and Central districts of California. Mr. Branson is heavily involved in his local community and is a member of the San Diego County Superior Court Bench-Bar Committee, San Diego County Bar Association, and Probate Attorneys of San Diego. He also serves as a Volunteer Settlement Officer for the San Diego Superior Court. He has been named a San Diego "Super Lawyer" in Estate & Trust Litigation and Estate Planning & Probate, and was also named "Trust & Probate Litigator of the Year" in the Greater San Diego Area by US Business News in 2020.
