Attorneys appointed to represent allegedly incapacitated persons in emergency guardianship hearings and can’t reach their clients before the hearing are still required to zealously protect their interests and ensure their procedural rights, according to a new ethics opinion being published by the Professional Ethics Committee.

The committee on March 23 approved Proposed Advisory Opinion 21-3, which stemmed from a lawyer asking about duties owed to a client he was appointed to represent when he could not meet with the client before the emergency temporary guardianship hearing.

“He wasn’t clear on what his responsibilities were to his client when under the circumstances he had no opportunity to consult with his client before the hearing,” said committee member Michael Dribin, who chaired the subcommittee that drafted the proposed advisory opinion.