Paralegals are not allowed to represent clients in court. Although the right of self-representation is provided for by statute, this right does not include the right to be legally represented by a non-lawyer, including a paralegal.
Do not predict the outcome of the client matter to a client. Here are three (3) ways a paralegal is often utilized to communicate with clients: The Client Interview Your role as a paralegal may be to conduct client interviews.
Ethical rules for paralegals to follow. Paralegals are bound by a set of ethical guidelines that dictate their professional conduct. According to NALA’s Code of Ethics and Professional Responsibility, these guidelines commonly include: Only attorneys can form an attorney-client relationship, by agreeing to provide legal representation.
In the event of inadvertent disclosure, attorneys need to stress that the paralegal must immediately inform them of the erroneous release of information, rather than ignore the problem, hoping that nothing harmful results from it.
Paralegals are Required to Uphold Client Privilege While paralegals are barred from being a participant of the attorney-client privilege, they must behave in a manner that upholds and protects the rights held between an attorney and a client. Paralegals are legally and ethically required to do so.
Paralegals are also not allowed to set the amount of a fee to be charged for legal services; represent clients in court; provide legal advice and opinions (although they can relay information given to them by their supervising attorneys); hold themselves out as attorneys; or make unsupervised legal judgments.
Paralegals must avoid the unauthorized practice of law. Generally, paralegals may not represent clients in court, take depositions, or sign pleadings. Some federal and state administrative agencies, however, do permit nonlawyer practice. See, for example, Social Security Administration.
The privilege shields from discovery advice given by the attorney to the client as well as communications from the client to the attorney. Voluntary disclosure of privileged communications to a third party results in waiver of the attorney-client privilege unless an exception applies.
These are requirements of Competence, Diligence, and Professional Integrity, requirements of Client Confidentiality, rules concerning Conflicts of Interest, responsibilities of supervisory lawyers' regarding nonlawyer assistants; and prohibitions concerning the Unauthorized Practice of Law.
A paralegal can share legal advice that comes from an attorney or direct a client's question to the attorney themselves. But if a paralegal gives legal advice or holds themselves out as an attorney in any way, they are said to be engaging in the unauthorized practice of law.
A paralegal can also do research for their attorney and appear in court.
Paralegals and other members of the support staff are not permitted to provide legal advice, or to utilize their independent judgment and discretion in making tactical and strategic decisions regarding the representation of clients. For example, under no circumstances are paralegals permitted to settle legal claims.
Legal information explains the law and the legal system in general terms. The information is not tailored to a specific case. Legal advice applies the law, including statute and case law and legal principles to a particular situation.
Disclosure of privileged information may also be permissible when a client threatens to commit suicide, shares information in the presence of a third party, is a minor and the subject of a custody dispute, is involved in criminal activity, has been abused or neglected, is impaired and may pose a threat to the public ( ...
When is privilege lost?intentional disclosure.unintentional disclosure, such as an accidental disclosure; or.implied waiver, which may involve: "disclosure waiver" - waiver over the whole advice where the substance, gist or conclusion is disclosed;
Emailed correspondence between attorney and client is privileged. However, the client can take some actions which will waive this attorney client privilege.
Approach each interview with the understanding the client is in a crisis or stressful situation. Put the client at ease by conducting the interview in a confidential and comfortable environment. Eliminate any behavior that may be considered pressure. For example, avoid the traditional seating arrangement, in which the paralegal sits behind a desk with the client on the other side, reinforcing the authority image. Instead, arrange the seats “catty-corner” using an end table or smaller desk. Act relaxed, not nervous. Maintain eye contact. Watch for facial and body language. Maintain a sincere, interested attitude. Having the ability to listen is essential to effective interviewing.
Paralegals can’t get away from the fact that everything we do involves communication. Whether it is communicating with a client, the court, a judge or even the local copy shop, we need to know how to communicate. Paralegals are called on to be the liaison between clients, witnesses, experts, and counsel. Strong communication and writing skills are essential in fulfilling this role.
Deposition: Paralegals also play a big role in coordinating the client’s deposition. You will need to again answer any questions the client may have about what a deposition is, the purpose of a deposition and types of questions ordinarily asked during a deposition.
Jurors watch everything during the trial, not just the evidence of the case. Jurors watch the attorney, attorney’s staff, client and even your own expert’s behavior. Jurors will watch the way your client looks, walks, talks and acts in and outside of the courtroom. So the client needs to be aware of those potential dangers.
Your role as a paralegal may be to conduct client interviews. The general purposes of the client interview are to determine facts, to identify evidence, to locate leads for additional information, to assess damages and to evaluate the client as a witness. A client interview may have additional specific purposes.
To get the client talking and more relaxed, begin the interview with preliminary data and routine information such as addresses, telephone numbers, employment and educational information. State the purpose of the interview. Begin the body of the interview with a narrative.
Maintain eye contact with the client as much as possible during the interview. Avoid distractions. While note taking may be a distraction in the course of the interview, you must take notes, so do not be afraid to take outline form or shorthand notes using abbreviations.
A paralegal is a critical member of the legal team and can greatly enhance a firm’s efficiency and productivity. But to ensure that an ethical relationship is maintained, a lawyer must provide a paralegal with proper supervision, adequate training, appropriate tasks to perform, and perhaps most importantly, high standards to strive for. ***. ...
Ethical considerations for attorneys working with paralegals. Lawyers who employ paralegals have certain ethical obligations as well, and the failure to observe them could result in significant financial as well as reputational harm to themselves and their firm.
The attorney’s ethical obligations regarding client-lawyer relationship s and confidentiality extend to paralegals as well as all non-lawyers working with the client. This obligation of confidentiality covers all types of client communication, including documents, files, phone calls, email communications, in-person conversations, posts on social media, and even discussions at home with a spouse or significant other.
Ethical rules for paralegals and their supervising attorneys. Paralegals bring many benefits to a legal practice, and with benefits come many ethical responsibilities. These responsibilities involve not only the manner in which paralegals should conduct themselves but also the ethical considerations that the lawyers who supervise them need to make.
According to Guideline 1 of the ABA Model Guidelines for the Utilization of Paralegal Services, “a lawyer is responsible for all of the professional activities of a paralegal performing services at the lawyer’s direction and should take reasonable measures to ensure that the paralegal’s conduct is consistent with the lawyer’s obligations under the rule of professional conduct.”
Paralegals are not permitted to give legal advice. Lawyers spend years in order to become qualified to give legal advice. A paralegal can share legal advice that comes from an attorney or direct a client’s question to the attorney themselves.
Paralegals are prohibited from setting client fees. Paralegals are not allowed to determine the fee that will be charged for legal services, although they can relay fee information given to them by their supervising attorney to the client.
Family and personal relationships: if a paralegal is related to or close friends with a party, a client, or someone involved in the legal matter; Business interests and professional relationships outside the employment: if a paralegal is involved either within a legal profession organization or in another business entity. ...
A paralegal possesses information about a client's transactions, the attorney's strategies, thought processes, work product, and/or other client privileged information. Conflicts of interest involving paralegals usually result from personal and business relationships outside the legal environment or from legal matters handled at ...
If they have a conflict of interest involving too many clients, no employer would want to hire them because the law firm or other employer would be disqualified from handling those cases. In essence, they may be precluded from finding work because of the vast amount of legal matters to which they were exposed.
Examples of when a paralegal may have a conflict of interest in a legal matter: Changing jobs: if a paralegal works at one law firm that is handling a legal matter on behalf of a client and then goes to work for another law firm that is handling the same legal matter on behalf of the adversary; Family and personal relationships: if ...
Paralegals should abide by the decision made by the attorney. If, however, a paralegal feels uncomfortable continuing to work on a matter with which a conflict was not determined, it should be discussed with the supervising attorney or a conflicts committee within the firm or employer's structure. Examples of when a paralegal may have a conflict ...
When speaking with or about a client or a case by phone, the door to the office should be closed and the use of the speaker phone should be avoided. A call from or about a client should certainly not be taken with another client or third party present. 3.
Even with the most care and attention to protecting client information, mistakes happen. The Model Rules of Professional Conduct provide guidance for recipients of information that is accidentally disclosed. Model Rule 4.4 (b) requires a lawyer “who receives a document or electronically stored information relating to the representation of the lawyer's client and knows or reasonably should know that the document or electronically stored information was inadvertently sent” to notify the sender of the information promptly. The Rule puts the burden on the sender to take necessary action to retrieve or otherwise protect the information. The Rule does not restrict or limit the receiving lawyer’s review or use of the information. In fact, there are circumstances where the lawyer might be ethically required to review or use the information. This means that we must take all the precautions necessary to avoid such a situation.
The Comments to ABA Model Rule 5.3 specifically warn lawyers about the obligation to maintain client confidences: “A lawyer must give [nonlawyer] assistants appropriate instruction and supervision concerning the ethical aspects of their employment, particularly regarding the obligation not to disclose information relating to representation of the client [.]” (Emphasis added.) Client confidentiality is the only ethical obligation specifically pointed out in the comments to Rule 5.3, which should alert the practitioner to its significance. Unfortunately, client confidentiality is an easy rule to break simply because the definition of client confidences is often misunderstood by lawyers and legal assistants alike. Many practitioners presume that confidential information consists only of secrets told to the paralegal or the lawyer in confidence. However, confidential information is not just client “secrets” of which third parties have no knowledge. Confidential information is ANY INFORMATION about the client or the client’s legal matter - regardless of whether it is secret and regardless of its source. [1]
Practical Tips for Protecting Client Confidences: 1. Don’t discuss work outside of work . As tempting as it may be to talk about work with colleagues, friends, and family, client confidences must not be revealed, even hypothetically.
Computer passwords should be periodically changed and should not be written down in the office. If members of the legal team take client files, flash drives, or laptops containing client information outside the office, policies should be established for securing those files and computers.
The Rule does not restrict or limit the receiving lawyer’s review or use of the information. In fact, there are circumstances where the lawyer might be ethically required to review or use the information. This means that we must take all the precautions necessary to avoid such a situation.
While faxing, emailing, and even texting client information is not necessarily a violation of client confidentiality, errors in sending such electronic communications can lead to serious consequences. Sending sensitive client information by fax, email, or text message should be avoided whenever possible.
If you cannot get back to a client the same day you receive a call , seek another solution. Have a member of your staff or another lawyer in your firm call the client back in order to acknowledge her call and let her know when you will be getting back to her.
The client, who often has no idea how the legal system works, is dependent on the attorney for current case information, an explanation of the law, and a fair assessment of her case. A lawyer’s failure to effectively communicate with her client can greatly increase a client’s fears and frustrations.
One of the top complaints by clients about their lawyers is that lawyers do not return phone calls or keep them updated on the progress of their case. In the busy day-to-day activities of a law office, client calls can sometimes get lost. They stack up in voicemails, on sticky notes, or computer call logs.
These rules are established both by industry groups (the American Bar Association and the National Association of Legal Assistants each have ethics codes applicable to paralegals) and by state and federal laws. The regulations are applied by the relevant bar association, usually operating under the authority of the state supreme court.
This is the case with the process in place for filing certain documents and orders. Although paralegals frequently draft such legal documentation, they are not allowed to file it without the direct supervision and signatures of a lawyer. The temptation to violate this is mostly rooted in expediency.
Admittedly, you won’t hear a lot of talk about ethical issues in the average law office —these values are so deeply engrained there is rarely any reason to discuss them. Most paralegals would have a hard time even imaging themselves ever being in a situation where they’d be faced with some hard ethical dilemma.
4 Rules of Professional Ethics Paralegals Can Never Break. Even if almost no one who works outside the field believes it, any paralegal will tell you that ethics really are the cornerstone of law. In fact, some people might say that adhering to ethical standards of conduct is the key feature of the American legal system.