The American Bar Association will present the webinar “Ethical Issues When Lawyers Serve as Trustees” on Thursday, February 26, from 1 to 2:30 p.m.
Lawyers increasingly serve as trustees of private trusts, charitable trusts, and court-created fiduciary structures, particularly for complex estates, special needs beneficiaries, and closely held business interests. Wearing the dual hats of attorney and fiduciary introduces unique ethical risks that are not fully addressed by conventional estate planning or fiduciary law training. This webinar will help to understand the unique ethical risks that wearing dual hats of attorney and fiduciary introduces.
Attendees will learn how to:
• Distinguish the roles and duties of a lawyer acting as trustee from the duties owed when acting as legal counsel, and identify who the “client” is in each context.
• Analyze conflicts of interest and business transaction pitfalls that arise when a lawyer-trustee or the lawyer’s firm provides legal or nonlegal services to the trust.
• Apply confidentiality and privilege doctrines to fiduciary communications, including the common-interest doctrine.
• Evaluate compensation structures, fee disclosures, engagement terms, and indemnification provisions for compliance with professional conduct rules and fiduciary law.
• Develop defensible practices for engagement, supervision, documentation, and withdrawal or succession when the lawyer serves as trustee or co-trustee.
Cost for the webinar is $175. To register, visit www.americanbar.org and click on “events.”
Lawyers increasingly serve as trustees of private trusts, charitable trusts, and court-created fiduciary structures, particularly for complex estates, special needs beneficiaries, and closely held business interests. Wearing the dual hats of attorney and fiduciary introduces unique ethical risks that are not fully addressed by conventional estate planning or fiduciary law training. This webinar will help to understand the unique ethical risks that wearing dual hats of attorney and fiduciary introduces.
Attendees will learn how to:
• Distinguish the roles and duties of a lawyer acting as trustee from the duties owed when acting as legal counsel, and identify who the “client” is in each context.
• Analyze conflicts of interest and business transaction pitfalls that arise when a lawyer-trustee or the lawyer’s firm provides legal or nonlegal services to the trust.
• Apply confidentiality and privilege doctrines to fiduciary communications, including the common-interest doctrine.
• Evaluate compensation structures, fee disclosures, engagement terms, and indemnification provisions for compliance with professional conduct rules and fiduciary law.
• Develop defensible practices for engagement, supervision, documentation, and withdrawal or succession when the lawyer serves as trustee or co-trustee.
Cost for the webinar is $175. To register, visit www.americanbar.org and click on “events.”
