This roundtable addresses how to identify and resolve issues of mental capacity and decision-making encountered when representing elderly clients.

As the overall population in the United States ages, an increasing number of elderly people require legal advice regarding a broad range of topics. Frequently, issues of long-term care, management and disposition of assets, and the person's capacity or lack thereof to make critical decisions, arise during the course of representation. One goal of this roundtable is to reduce practitioners' concerns about incurring liability stemming from the representation of elderly clients by discussing when and how to identify and resolve issues around a client's mental capacity before they become problems.