The Oklahoma Bar Journal November 2024

attorney was opposing counsel or otherwise has a conflict and sees to their disposition. THE OBA PLANNING GUIDE The Planning Ahead Guide: Attorney Transition Planning in the Event of Death or Incapacity is available at no cost to all OBA members. You can log in to your MyOKBar page and click the link for the guide from the list of links. Do not be intimated by the size of this publication, as a substan tial part of the guide contains forms for you to modify and use in your planning. We encourage you to download the guide and start implementing it to benefit both your clients, those who will administer your estate and per haps yourself in the event of a temporary disability. Mr. Calloway is the OBA Management Assistance Program director. Need a quick answer to a tech problem or help solving a management dilemma? Contact him at 405-416-7008, 800-522-8060 or jimc@okbar.org. It’s a free member benefit.

options available to him or her, weigh the relative risks, and make the best choices he or she can. Adding an Assisting Attorney or Authorized Signer to your operating or lawyer trust account is permitted regardless of the form of entity you use for prac ticing law. This is a challenging analysis. THE ASSISTING ATTORNEY Equally important to making proper trust accounting arrange ments is designating an assisting attorney. This refers to the lawyer you have made arrangements with to close your practice or to maintain it temporarily while you recover from a disabling medical condition. It is important that the assisting attorney agrees to assume these duties and you des ignate what is allowed. We have heard of situations where two solo practitioners in the same community each agree to serve as assisting attorney for the other. That can work very well, but it may require a brief role of a third attorney who removes any files from the appointing attor ney’s office where the assisting

68 | NOVEMBER 2024

THE OKLAHOMA BAR JOURNAL