How to Designate a Successor Attorney
Please refer to the instructional video below for a guide to designating a successor attorney in myStateBar.
Instructions to register a successor attorney with the Succession Planning Registry:
- Select a potential attorney willing and able to serve as your successor and discuss with that attorney to determine their willingness to serve in that role.
- Log in to your myStateBar account.
- Navigate to the myProfile tab and click on the “Successor Registry” link which will take you to that section in your Advanced Profile.
- Enter the name(s) of your successor(s).
- Check the box to acknowledge that you've discussed the necessary details with your successor(s).
- Scroll down and click the “Submit Advanced Profile” button to save changes.
Why is it especially important for solo attorneys to register a successor and have a succession plan?
Planning for the unexpected is important for all attorneys in private practice as doing so protects the rights of clients and their matters should the attorney unexpectedly become incapacitated, die, or is unavailable. For sole practitioners this is especially important as it provides the client with clarity that in the event that something unexpected happens to the solo attorney that there is a plan in place for a named attorney to protect that client's rights. SCR 20:1.3 Diligence refers to this professional obligation in ABA Comment [5]:
- "To prevent neglect of client matters in the event of a sole practitioner's death or disability, the duty of diligence may require that each sole practitioner prepare a plan, in conformity with applicable rules, that designates another competent lawyer to review client files, notify each client of the lawyer's death or disability, and determine whether there is a need for immediate protective action. Cf. Model Rules for Lawyer Disciplinary Enforcement R. 28 (2002) (providing for court appointment of a lawyer to inventory files and take other protective action in absence of a plan providing for another lawyer to protect the interests of the clients of a deceased or disabled lawyer)."
How should I approach creating a succession plan?
Resources for employees, clients, and family members of deceased solo attorneys without a named successor
Chapter 12: Trustees for medically incapacitated, deceased or disappeared sole practitioners.
Supreme Court Rules 12.02 and 12.03 provide a mechanism for the appointment of a trustee when a sole practitioner is medically incapacitated, deceased, or disappeared and has not made plans for another lawyer to take over their practice. Even if the assisted lawyer has named a successor lawyer, the successor lawyer should consider filing a petition to be named trustee. A trusteeship provides clear authority for, and court supervision of, the process of winding up the assisted lawyer's practice.
The duties of a trustee are to:
- Protect the clients' rights, files and property;
- Notify clients of the appointment of the trustee attorney and advise the clients to seek counsel of their choice;
- Deliver clients' files and property to them upon request;
- Collect outstanding attorney's fees, costs and expenses; and
- Assist in the suspension or wind-up of the practice.
Note that the trustee lawyer cannot serve in any other capacity as counsel for assisted lawyer or their family. This includes acting as personal representative of the assisted lawyer's estate. Lawyers who have questions about Chapter 12 should contact the Ethics Hotline or the Practice411 Practice Management Program.
Sample petitions can be found in After All, You Are Only Human: The Solo Practitioner's Handbook for Disability and Death starting at page 59.
