Aging and the Law, Co-Sponsored by Professional Responsibility

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This panel will explore the ethical and moral dimensions of lawyering for clients with cognitive impairments. While the challenges associated with counseling and advocating for such clients are not new, two developments make the panel especially timely. First, the aging of the baby boom generation and increased longevity mean that the population of persons with dementia and other age-related cognitive impairments is growing. Second, by embracing legal capacity as a right, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities problematizes past approaches to addressing the needs of persons with cognitive disabilities. This panel will therefore move beyond a mere recitation of the Model Rules of Professional Responsibility to think deeply about how lawyers engage with this client population.