Michael F. Curtin

Email: [email protected]

Mr. Curtin is a partner in our firm. Mr. Curtin brings over 40 years of experience in probate law, estate planning, and trust and estate litigation. He has appeared as lead counsel in over 1000 estate proceedings, more than 100 adversarial proceedings and has been lead counsel in no less than 35 appellate proceedings in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, D.C. Court of Appeals, and the Court of Special Appeals for the State of Maryland.  He is a nationally recognized expert in Trusts and Estates law and has given more than 100 continuing education lectures in the Washington, D.C. area and throughout the country.

Mr. Curtin has served on a number of distinguished professional associations including the American Bar Association, the Bar Association of the District of Columbia, and the District of Columbia Bar.  He has chaired the Trust and Estate Division of the District of Columbia Bar, the District of Columbia Court of Appeals Unauthorized Practice of Law Committee and a Hearing Committee for the District of Columbia Board of Professional Responsibility.  Mr. Curtin has been a Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel since 1979.

Mr. Curtin has been honored by many organizations for his dedication, service, and achievement.  In 1994, the Superior Court of the District of Columbia presented Mr. Curtin its Recognition Award for 20 years of Distinguished Service on the Probate and Advisory Rules committee of that Court.  In 1997, his undergraduate alma mater, LeMoyne College, honored Mr. Curtin with its Distinguished Alumni Award.  In 2002, LeMoyne bestowed on the degree, Honorary Doctor of Laws, honoris causa. He has been listed, for the last twenty-nine years in “The Best Lawyers in America” and is annually listed in the Washingtonian Magazine as among Washington’s Top Lawyers.

For many years, Mr. Curtin has volunteered pro bono legal services to the disadvantaged through the Archdiocesan Legal Network of Catholic Charities in Washington, D.C. as well as the Legal Counsel for the Elderly.  He also provides pro bono legal advice to So Others Might Eat (SOME), a private, non-profit organization that exists to help the poor and homeless of our nation’s capital.  The John Carroll Society of Washington, D.C. has presented him with the Pro Bono Legal Service Award for his extraordinary pro bono service to the Legal Network of Catholic Charities.  So Others May Eat (SOME), has also honored Mr. Curtin with its Caring Award for sharing his time and talents with that organization.

In 2008, the Columbus School of Law, at the Catholic University of America established the “Michael F. Curtin Pro Bono Award”.  In announcing the award, to be given annually to a deserving graduate, the Dean of that law school noted that the award was named “in tribute to alumnus Michael F. Curtin, 1965, in recognition of his more than 40 years of leadership and selfless dedication to Catholic University’s law school and the legal profession.  The range of his pro bono work and the significant portion of his professional life that he has devoted to the causes of justice, compassion and opportunity for all, have set a new standard for what it means to serve others.”

In addition to his law practice, Mr. Curtin has served as the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Woods Academy and Stone Ridge School, both in Bethesda, MD and Chairperson of the Board of Trustees of LeMoyne College, Syracuse, N.Y.  He has served as Chairperson of the Catholic University Columbus School of Law Board of Visitors and has served that law school community as an adjunct professor for seven years, as a past Annual Fund Chair and former President of the Alumni Association.  He has also served as Chairperson of the Board of Directors of the Woodstock Theology Center at Georgetown University as well as Chairperson of the Board of Trustees of the Ignatian Volunteer Corps. and Chairperson of the Catholic Charities Foundation of the Archdiocese of Washington, D.C.  In addition, he has served on the Gonzaga College High School Board of Directors, the Oblate College Board of Directors, the D.C. Lung Association’s Board of Directors, and the D.C. Retirement Board.