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Essay Series on Estate Law and Celebrity Legacies Surpasses 275,000 Downloads
What do Michael Jackson, Jimmy Buffet, and Rupert Murdoch have in common? Their estate plans erupted into headline-grabbing litigation.
Rutgers Law School Distinguished Professor Reid Kress Weisbord’s collaboration with University of Virginia Law School Distinguished Professor Naomi Cahn has brought national attention to complex legal questions at the intersection of inheritance, wealth, celebrity estates, and tax policy. Their innovative essay series exemplifies the power and reach of publicly engaged legal scholarship.
Their essay series seeks to explain how the complex law of trusts and estates impacts current events, while doing so in a format accessible to non-experts. By weaving legal insight into stories drawn from celebrity news, high-profile litigation, and public policy debates, their essays demystify a traditionally technical area of law while resonating with broad audiences. Weisbord and Cahn also offer estate planning lessons for readers of any level of income or wealth.
The five essays published so far cover topics including the estates of Michael Jackson, Michael Crichton, Rupert Murdoch, and Jimmy Buffett, as well as commentary on the federal estate tax. They illuminate how estate law shapes the transfer of wealth, power, and artistic legacy—and why the public should care. Through this high-impact collaboration, Professors Weisbord and Cahn are redefining how legal scholars contribute to public discourse.
Published through The Conversation and syndicated in newspapers nationwide—including the San Francisco Chronicle, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Philadelphia Inquirer, and Yahoo! News—the series has exceeded 275,000 downloads. The latest essay about acclaimed singer Jimmy Buffett’s estate generated more than 200,000 downloads in the first week.
“Engaging with the public through timely, accessible scholarship is not just an academic exercise—it’s an opportunity to show how law matters in everyday life,” said Professor Weisbord. “These topics often grapple with difficult real-life problems, but they are gratifying to write about. Collaborating with Professor Cahn, one of the most respected legal scholars in the field, has been a joy.”
Professor Weisbord, a leading authority in trusts and estates, has long championed legal scholarship that bridges the gap between academic rigor and public understanding. He is the author of nearly 60 articles, a law school textbook, and an encyclopedic treatise on estate planning. This recent series is a testament to his commitment to that mission—and to the growing visibility of Rutgers Law faculty as national thought leaders.Professor Cahn is the Justice Anthony M. Kennedy Distinguished Professor of Law, Armistead M. Dobie Professor of Law, and Co-Director of the Family Law Center at the University of Virginia. She has published more than 100 articles, several law school textbooks on trusts & estates and family law, multiple books with academic presses, including Oxford and Cambridge Universities, and several with popular presses.
For the full essay series, follow the links below:
- Estate planning lessons from the $600M fight over Michael Jackson’s music catalog
- Creative life after death − or yes, you can control spinoffs from beyond the grave
- Rupert Murdoch’s real succession drama − why the future of his media empire could hinge on a legal effort in Nevada
- Legal wrangling over estate of Jimmy Buffett turns his widow’s huge inheritance into a cautionary tale
- Repealing the estate tax could create headaches for the rich – as well as worsen inequality
Watch Professor Weisbord explain how this work started and how it's resonating in the video below.