Representing Fiduciaries: Legal Ethics for Counsel and Pitfalls to Avoid
Understanding Fiduciary Risks, Fee Agreements and Disclosures, Confidentiality Issues, and More

Course Details
- smart_display Format
On-Demand
- signal_cellular_alt Difficulty Level
Intermediate
- work Practice Area
Ethics
- event Date
- schedule Time
1:00 p.m. ET./10:00 a.m. PT
- timer Program Length
90 minutes
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This 90-minute webinar is eligible in most states for 1.5 CLE credits.
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An excellent opportunity to earn Ethics CLE credits. Note: BARBRI cannot guarantee that this course will be approved for ethics credits in all states. To confirm, please contact our CLE department at pdservice@barbri.com.
This CLE webinar will provide attorneys an in-depth analysis of ethical risks of representing fiduciaries and offer strategies to overcome challenges relating to such representation. The panel will discuss critical fiduciary risks attorneys must understand, fee agreements and disclosures, navigating confidentiality issues, conflicts of interest, and other key items to minimize potential liability.
Description
Attorneys providing services to fiduciaries may result in a variety of ethical issues. Counsel must adhere to various state rules, understand best practices for fees, maintain guidelines for handling conflicts of interest, and address other challenges that will arise.
The importance of identifying ethical issues is essential when representing fiduciaries, such as trustees, executors, advisers, and guardians. Attorneys have to explore the complexities of balancing duties to the fiduciary as the client while also adhering to their responsibilities to the practice of law, such as (1) the duty of loyalty and confidentiality; (2) conflicts of interest between fiduciaries and beneficiaries; (3) handling disputes involving fiduciaries while maintaining compliance with the Rules of Professional Conduct; and (4) advising fiduciaries on their legal and ethical responsibilities.
Listen as our panel discusses obligations and risks for fiduciaries, identifying who is being represented, ethical risks concerning third-party payors, and other key items to minimize potential liability.
Outline
- Types of fiduciary relationships and fiduciary obligations
- Risks of fiduciary representation
- Fee agreements, disclosures, and third-party payments
- Client communications and confidentiality issues
- Best practices for counsel
Benefits
The panel will discuss these and other key issues:
- Understanding the ethical risks associated with representing fiduciaries
- Determining who is the client and establishing an attorney-client relationship
- Key provisions for fee agreements and disclosures
- Third-party payments
- Handling confidentiality issues and conflicts of interest
- Best practices for counsel providing services to fiduciaries
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