Alexander Rich assisted a client with closing the sale of a commercial property that was waylaid by a title defect. The client’s father had included the property in his estate plan, but the grant deed that transferred title into his trust had failed to include the legal description for one of the property’s two parcels. Without the complete legal description for the property, escrow could not close on the sale. Complicating matters was that the client’s father had died in 2005, and a copy of his trust documents could not be found. Mr. Rich was able to locate a 2006 case file in Mendocino County Superior Court regarding the trust, but the court had not retained the court records. Ultimately, Mr. Rich was able to file a petition in the 2006 case (after obtaining consent to take over the case from the client’s former attorney, who had retired and moved out of state) with the correct title information based on title records reflecting the chain of ownership. Two weeks after filing the petition, the firm’s client had a signed order that ultimately allowed him to complete the sale.