Can a lawyer's trust account be adequately managed from the same gnucash file as the rest of their accounting?

[Macho Philipovich]

Hi there.

I'd like to know the best way to manage accounting information for a 
solo lawyer's trust account using GNUcash.

This topic has been discussed before. One contributor to this list seems 
to be managing their trust account in the same gnucash file 
<https://lists.gnucash.org/pipermail/gnucash-user/2011-March/039321.html> as 
the rest of their accounts, but under separate accounts (under "current 
assets" and "liability accounts").

A helpful document published by the Minnesota State Bar Association in 
2009, however, entitled Keeping Client Trust Accounts with GnuCash 
<http://www.mnbar.org/docs/default-source/practicelaw-public/keeping-client-trust-accounts-with-gnucash-2-2-4.pdf> 
instructs lawyers to "Keep your trust accounts separate from your 
business accounts if using a general-purpose accounting program […] *In 
GnuCash, use a separate file*."

I'd love to find a coherent, convenient, and adequate approach to this 
problem using GNUcash. I have essentially two questions:

 1. Is it feasible to store the trust account information in the same
    gnucash file as the rest of the accounting information? Does this,
    e.g., allow generating adequate and appropriate reports?
 2. If the answer to the first question is no, and two separate files
    are needed, is there any way to alleviate the inconvenience of
    managing two separate-yet-closely-related accounting files? The two
    main annoyances are, first, that GNUcash doesn't seem to be able to
    have more than one file open at once and, second, that managing two
    separate files requires needless duplication of effort and inserts
    the potential for error. For example, transferring money from the
    trust account to the business account requires recording the same
    transaction twice, in separate files, which can't be viewed
    simultaneously.

I'm brand new both to GNUcash and to basic accounting principles more 
broadly, so I'm open to having completely misunderstood any number of 
basic principles.

I'd love to hear from any of you with thoughts on the question.

Thanks!

Macho