The first question in any legal representation is “who is the client.” Particularly in estate planning and elder law matters, it is imperative for the attorney to identify his client, to maintain the confidences of the client, and to represent the client’s interests even if others may disagree. In a recent case that involved legal ethics rules similar to those in Mississippi, an Ohio court addressed a child’s assertion of an attorney-client relationship with the attorneys who assisted her parents with estate planning.
Marcia Meehan thought that she had an attorney-client relationship with Lindsey Smith and Todd Bartimole. Smith and Bartimole had represented both of Marcia’s parents with respect to their estate planning. All three of the Meehan’s children had, at various points, met with Smith and Bartimole regarding their parent’s documents and the operation of two family business entities. When a dispute arose between Marcia and her brothers after their parents died, Marcia filed a malpractice suit against Smith and Bartimole, who filed for and were granted summary judgment on the basis that they never had an attorney-client relationship with Marcia. On appeal, Marcia testified that she had believed Smith and Bartimole represented “the documents” and by extension, her as a co-trustee and co-manager of the entities. She further argued that she had an attorney-client relationship by virtue of her position as a trustee and manager of entities that are, in her opinion, clients of Smith and Bartimole. The appellate court, noting Ohio’s strict privity requirements for estate planning clients, upheld the summary judgment ruling. Among the facts the court relied upon in making this ruling were that all checks Marcia wrote were from either her parents’ accounts or the business accounts, all bills indicated that the services were for her parents, and Marcia had, on occasion, been asked to leave the conference room so that the attorneys could meet with her parent(s).
The opinion can be downloaded at Meehan v. Smith, 2022-Ohio-2359 (Ohio App. July 7, 2022)