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REACHING THE TOP
UDM Law graduates excel in their fields
Summer 2006
Sebastian Grassi, Jr. ’79
As a member of the firm Grassi & Toering, Sebastian Grassi, Jr., has been a Michigan estate planning attorney for more than 25 years. His practice emphasizes business law, estate planning, special-needs planning, probate, and commercial real estate.Grassi is a fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC). He is also a member of the Michigan Probate and Estate Planning Council, which advises the Michigan legislature on changes in probate and trust law.
Although Michigan has a comprehensive probate statute (and has had one for many years), Michigan does not have a similar trust law. The Michigan Probate and Estate Planning Council hopes to change that. The Council is working on a version of the Uniform Trust Code to recommend to the legislature.
“Because of the proliferation of the use of trusts, it has become evident that there is a need to adopt uniform trust laws across the country that will provide guidance on the formation and administration of trusts,” says Grassi. Further, “Michigan is a state of minimal development in terms of trust laws, and everyone involved with trusts needs greater certainty in the law. The UTC is designed to promote and provide that certainty and guidance.”
Grassi is the author of A Practical Guide to Drafting Irrevocable Life Insurance Trusts and A Practical Guide to Drafting Marital Deduction Trusts. Both are published by the American Law Institute through the American Bar Association. Grassi has also been very active in writing articles, having contributed more than 70 articles on business law, estate planning, and tax matters in journals such as The Journal of Taxation of Estates and Trusts, Michigan Bar Journal, and the Michigan Probate & Estate Planning Journal. He also frequently lectures for the Institute of Continuing Legal Education.
Grassi credits the start of his scholarly career to the Christian Legal Society and to former dean of men Arthur Lovely, S.J., who encouraged him to start a chapter of the CLS at the University of Detroit in the late 1970s. After he graduated from law school, Grassi stayed a member of the National Christian Legal Society.
In 1987, he received a phone call from a fellow Christian Legal Society member living in Tinjin, China, who asked Grassi to become involved in a federal district court lawsuit involving the People’s Republic of China and Citizens National Bank in Flint. Grassi’s involvement in the lawsuit led to a stint teaching international business law in Beijing during May and June of 1989. Most dramatically, Grassi was in Beijing during the Tiananmen Square protests. On one of the most violent days, he happened to be in Tiananmen Square and took several photographs of the incident. He left a day after the incident as did most expatriates. Subsequently, Grassi opened his own law practice in 1992 and became a member of the national board of directors of CLS. As Grassi puts it, “After I came back from China, things really started to come together.”
Several articles were written about him after his return, and he was introduced to the Institute for Continuing Legal Education (ICLE), which began a relationship that continues to this day. According to Grassi, “My ICLE outlines have directly turned into two books.”
At home, Grassi is a dedicated family man. He and his wife, Elizabeth, have three children, Laura, Stephen, and Carolyn. Laura has cerebral palsy and uses a wheelchair to get around. Grassi feels that he has been truly blessed by his family and by his work. Religion is important to Grassi, as is the fact that UDM remains a Catholic institution. Says Grassi, “UDM is a Catholic, Jesuit school, and I stand where I am today because of the grace of God.”
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