Several states are weighing an ABA-led push to encourage attorneys handling intellectually disabled and elderly clients to consider alternatives to legal guardianships.
The American Bar Association House of Delegates earlier this year revised its model rule of professional conduct dealing with how attorneys represent clients with limited decision-making skills, following years of behind-the-scenes work from advocates concerned that the legal profession has defaulted to guardianship—also known as conservatorship—as a first option.
Reformers say the changes to Rule 1.14—which outline guidance for lawyers representing clients with what the ABA used to call “diminished” mental capacity—may be vital to fixing the guardianship ...