Can a lawyer, in certain matters, be an impartial counsel for the situation, rather than an advocate for either party? The Latin Notary is a legal professional of the Civil Law world that is expected to be a non-adversarial, expert legal counselor to every party to a transaction. The State seeks to ensure impartiality by imposing on the notary very strict training, admission and ethical requirements. In exchange for such high demands, the state often grants the notaries profitable subject-matter and geographic monopolies. Covers historical development, current definition and scope, relation to "lawyer as intermediary" of Model Rule 2.2.