An Attorney Perspective on Standards of Practice: A Weapon or a Shield?

This article was published in the Journal of Life Care Planning in 2006 as the 2nd edition of the Standards of Practice for Life Care Planners was published. At the time of first publication in 2006, life care planners wanted to know more about how standards of practice apply to the individual life care planning practitioner. Now, nine years later, the 3rd edition is published and reflects the practice is becoming more objective and research based, yet those earlier concerns still remain, making the content of this article still relevant. This article addresses those questions, with a focus on the meaning of standards of practice to the individual practitioner. This article has been updated and is being reprinted to remind life care planners that standards can serve to protect the practitioner who chooses to follow them, or be used against the practitioner who chooses to deviate from them. An attorney who works regularly with life care planners describes how standards can provide protection or be used to diminish the credibility of a life care planner.