Alicia M. Balanesi

Biography

Alicia joined Franke Beckett in February 2024 with an extensive interest and experience in estates and trusts.

Her introduction to the law of estates and trusts came before she attended law school. Immediately after graduating from college, Alicia worked as an assistant to a partner in an estates and trusts law firm in Towson. From this experience she decided to attend law school, graduating in 2016.

In law school, Alicia focused on various aspects of estates and trusts, tax, and real property. She also took litigation courses. After receiving high honors in her litigation courses, she decided to combine her interest in courtroom advocacy with the law of estates trusts. While in her last year in law school in 2015 and upon becoming a lawyer, she worked with a firm that focused on fiduciary litigation, including will contests, breaches of trust and similar equity actions. Over her 4 years as an associate with that firm, she represented clients with that firm before the Orphans’ Courts, Circuit Courts and the Appellate Court of Maryland.

Alicia took a several year break from her litigation practice at this firm. In 2023, she returned to the practice of estates and trusts but focused on estate planning and administration instead of exclusively one exclusively focused on fiduciary litigation.

At FrankeBeckett, LLC, Alicia pursues a practice that includes estate/trust planning, estate/trust administration and fiduciary litigation. Having this broader practice within a niche practice of estates and trusts strengthens her knowledge and skills in a more dramatic way than if she followed the more common “cabined” practice prevalent at many firms. Also working in a firm that emphasizes a team approach creates the environment of “continual learning” which is necessary in a field defined by constant growth and change.

As an undergraduate, Alicia was a member of their Division I Field Hockey Team and served as Captain in her senior year. Although Alicia was born near Sacramento, California, her family moved across the country when she was a toddler, and she grew up in Hanover, Pennsylvania. In high school she played field hockey and softball. Today, she lives in Annapolis, and enjoys trips to the beach, spending time with her rescue dog, Yoda, and relaxing with a captivating book in her hammock.