COURSE DESCRIPTION
Trust and estate practice often sits at the intersection of money, aging clients, family drama, easy accusations of self-dealing and misdeeds, dispute – and anger. This turbulent combination of circumstances can put attorneys in difficult ethical spots. Questions about the competence of aging clients in combination with family drama can easily lead to ethical complaints and eventually litigation. There are also issues of decision-making authority and confidentiality if someone other than the client is paying for the representation. Conflicts of interest, especially where a longtime client may gift something to the attorney, are rife. This program will provide you with a practical guide to substantial ethical issues in trust and estate practice.
- Working with clients with diminished capacity and protecting against challenges
- Confidentiality – understanding what information is confidential and when and to whom it can be disclosed
- Conflicts of interest – joint and common representations, husbands and wives, multiple generations of a family
- Gifts from clients – what lawyers may accept, what should they decline?
- Special issues when someone other than the client pays for a representation
Speakers:
Thomas E. Spahn is a partner in the McLean, Virginia office of McGuireWoods, LLP, where he has a substantial practice advising clients on properly creating and preserving the attorney-client privilege and work product protections. For more than 30 years he has lectured extensively on legal ethics and professionalism and has written “The Attorney-Client Privilege and the Work Product Doctrine: A Practitioner’s Guide,” a 750 page treatise published by the Virginia Law Foundation. Mr. Spahn has served as a member of the ABA Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility and as a member of the Virginia State Bar's Legal Ethics Committee.
Missia H. Vaselaney is a partner in the Cleveland office of Taft, Stettinius & Hollister, LLP, where her practice focuses on estate planning for individuals and businesses. She also represents clients before federal and state taxing authorities. Ms. Vaselaney is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and has been a member of the Steering Committee for AICPA’s National Advanced Estate Planning Conference since 2001.