Sutton's Law and economics applied to the professional fiduciary: Helping the trustee avoid predatory litigants

Trust professionals make tempting targets for predatory litigants because of the broad scope of fiduciary liability. A conscientious trust professional should strive to adopt a method of making daily trust administration decisions that will maximize the quality of the services delivered, minimize the risk of mistakes, encourage the beneficiary to express its concerns or complaints to the trustee, and provide the trustee with its strongest defense in the event a complaint escalates to litigation. Each of these goals is served by a systematic pursuit of analysis, communication, and documentation with respect to trust administration activities.