In addition to the basic themes of the Commentaries (see our June 9, 2006 blog), they also reflect the role that the trusts and estates lawyer has traditionally played as the lawyer for members of the family. In that role, a trusts and estates lawyer frequently represents the fiduciary of a Trust or an Estate and one or more of the beneficiaries.

In drafting the Commentaries, the authors have attempted to express views that are consistent with the spirit of the MRPC (Model Rules of Professional Conduct) as evidenced in the following passage:

"The Rules of Professional Conduct are rules of reason. They should be interpreted with reference to the purposes of legal representation and the law itself."

The editors note (at page 1 of the Commentaries) that a goal of the Commentaries is to encourage a full discussion between a lawyer and a client as to the scope and the cost of the representation. Furthermore, the duties of trusts and estates lawyers are also carefully considered and described. In the U.S. jurisdictions, many of the parameters of the duties of estates and trusts lawyers are set out by opinions rendered in malpractice cases, which provide some guidance regarding some of the ethical duties of the lawyer as well.