Lawyers are tasked with the important roles of being effective advocates for their clients and serving the public’s interest. In fulfilling these roles, lawyers face considerable stress. Conflict with another lawyer on the opposing side of a file can add unnecessary stress, thereby negatively impacting the lawyer’s effectiveness and personal health. This paper briefly touches on important rules governing lawyer to lawyer relations in the Code of Conduct and provides clear strategies for creating better lawyer to lawyer relationships. In addition, the author explains trust conditions and undertakings and how to properly utilize and qualify them through laying out clear rules. Furthermore, this paper discusses how to go about reporting breaches of conduct, undertakings, or trust conditions. Sample undertakings that could be used as precedents are provided at the conclusion of the paper.

This paper is part of a collection presented at LESA’s 49th Annual Refresher: Real Estate program from April 24 – 26, 2016.