Estate Planning

Specialization and Client Service

By Hull & Hull LLP

Law firms, such as ours, tend to emphasize the benefits to clients of their respective area of specialization. The common pitch to prospective clients is that there is less of a learning curve on each file and, as a general proposition, most problems have usually (with some variation) been seen before.

However, the flip side of specialization is that it may not always best serve the client who presents a hybrid problem spanning two or more areas of law .  In such circumstances, counsel need to candidly assess to what extent their area of specialization may limit their ability to serve their client.  On the other hand, because certain areas of law tend to overlap with considerable frequency, the client who seeks specialized advice is well-served when such counsel recognize this fact and adapt accordingly. 

Certainly, the practice of estate litigation can often overlap with family law litigation.  Take , for example, a beneficiary designation dispute.  While at first glance an estates issue, the existence of a separation agreement and its impact on the dispute inevitably gives rise to legal issues where family law counsel will have considered the issue from their own perspective.  So, too is the decision facing a surviving spouse as to whether to elect under the Family Law Act on the death of his or her spouse. Again, responsible counsel have an obligation to best serve the client.

Continuing Legal Education plays a role as well.  For instance, the Ontario Bar Association has in the past run a program entitled "Kissing Cousins."  A joint venture of the Family Law and Estates and Trusts Sections of the OBA, the mandate of this program has been to highlight practice issues in which estates and family law issues overlap.

David M. Smith

Full post as published by Toronto Estate Law Blog on May 21, 2008 (boomark / email).