A Paralegal’s Guide to Ethics.

Crystal Adkins

A paralegal shall achieve and maintain a high level of competency.

A paralegal needs to obtain competency through education, training, and on the job tasks. A paralegal needs to maintain their level of competency through continued education hours, trainings, and professional publications. Paralegals need to

remember that things need to be complete in accordance with the deadlines.

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A paralegal shall maintain the highest canons of professional and ethical conduct.

A paralegal needs to make sure that they keep up on the every changing laws and to perform all of their duties in accordance with the rules of ethics. Paralegals shall not take part in conduct that would shed a negative light on the proceeding in

the eyes of the court.

2

A paralegal must always disclose to clients that they are paralegals and not lawyers.

A paralegal must always make sure that their title is disclosed on all transactions. This is so that no one misunderstands the roles and responsibilities of the paralegal in the proceedings.

3

A paralegal shall not use letterheads, business cards, or other promotional

materials to create a fraudulent impression of his or her status or ability to practice in the jurisdiction in which the paralegal

practices.

If a paralegal uses any promotional materials their title of paralegal must be clearly printed on the materials. This will allow the reader to realize that they are not attorneys, and

cannot give out legal advice.

4

A paralegal will not establish attorney-client relationships, set fees, or appear in court on behalf of the client, unless

authorized by law.

Paralegals need to remember that only the attorney can set their fees and establish the attorney-client relationship. At this time paralegals can only appear on behalf of clients in Social

Security Disability and Federal Black Lung proceedings.

5

A paralegal needs to be careful not to assist a client to an extent that they commit Unauthorized Practice of Law.

A paralegal must comply with the law the states. Only licensed attorneys may give legal advice to clients.

6

A paralegal is allowed to communicate legal advice authorized by the attorney. The

paralegal is not allowed to interpret or expand on the advice.

When an attorney provides a paralegal advice to relay to the client they are only to give the advice that was provided to them by the attorney. If they expand or interpret the advice

they are in violation of UPL.

7

A paralegal shall avoid conflicts of interest. Paralegals must disclose immediately in writing any possible

conflicts.

When a paralegal determines that they have a conflict of interest with one of the firm’s clients, they are to immediately

report it in writing to the attorneys.

8

A paralegal shall preserve and protect as privileged all communications of the

attorney and the client which the paralegal is aware of.

Any and all communications that a paralegal becomes aware of between an attorney and a client needs to be kept secret,

meaning that they are not to discuss the protected information with anyone that is not associated with the case.

9

A paralegal shall preserve all confidential information provided by the client or

acquired from other sources before, during, and after the course of the professional

relationship.

It is the professional duty of the paralegal to make sure that all confidential information that the client provides is kept

confidential.

10

A paralegal shall not engage in any indiscretion.

The paralegal needs to make sure that they are not communicating on cell phones in public places with clients, or where their

conversations can be heard by others. All communications with a client need to be done in a secure location away from the ears

of the public.

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Paralegals are not to sign documents which require an attorney’s signature.

A paralegal is not allowed to sign documents that attorneys are only allowed to sign. No matter what the attorney says, they need to ensure that the attorney signs the documents, and not sign them to ensure that the deadline is met. Remember that it is the attorney’s responsibility to sign certain documents. Do

not sign documents that only attorneys can sign.

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Paralegals are representatives of the legal profession, so they should perform all assignments efficiently, and constantly

seek to improve their legal knowledge and skills.

Paralegals need to make sure that they perform all of the tasks that they are given to the best of their ability. They need to make sure that the attorney approves their work product. If a paralegal should find themselves in need of assistance, they should get the help or guidance that they need to complete the

task at hand. Paralegals also need to constantly improve on their skills.

Since the legal profession is constantly changing, they need to take continuing education courses to ensure that they keep up with the every changing law and also to help them to improve

their skills.

15

A paralegal shall not engage in ex parte communication with the judge in an attempt

to exert undue influence or to obtain advantages or benefits of only one party.

A paralegal is not allowed to have off-the-record communication with any adjudicatory body. Communications off the record could allow one side to gain information that could be beneficial to

their party’s case.

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A paralegal shall not have ex parte communications with jurors or prospective jurors before, and during the trial to

prevent bribery and influence.

A paralegal is only to have contact with the jurors or prospective jurors in the courtroom. They are not allowed to

communicate with them outside the court proceedings. This could be seen as jury tampering, which is strictly against the law.

17

A paralegal shall not communicate or cause another to communicate with a party the paralegal knows to be represented by an attorney in a pending legal matter.

A paralegal needs to abide by the laws that no one from the opposing party is allowed to communicate with the opposing party who is represented by an attorney. Nor are they allowed to have someone else communicate with the represented person on the firm’s behalf. They need to direct all communications to the

represented person’s attorney.

18

A paralegal shall not take part in fee-splitting with the attorney.

It is against ABA Model Rule 5.4 to split fees with those who are not attorneys. The paralegal shall not accept or enter into a fee-splitting agreement. Paralegals are only allowed to accept

bonuses for the overall firm’s profitability.

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A paralegal shall not accept a case/client referral fee from an attorney.

A paralegal shall not accept a referral fee from an attorney for bringing clients or cases into the firm. The only thing that a paralegal is allowed to accept is a bonus based on the overall

firm’s profitability.

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A paralegal shall ensure that all timekeeping and billing records prepared by

the paralegal are thorough, accurate, honest, and complete.

A paralegal needs to make sure that all timekeeping and billing records are methodical, precise, authentic, and comprehensive. This is so that the paralegal can answer any questions a client may have about time that they were billed for services. Keeping

records in order allows for the client to easily have an accounting ledger of how the firm spent their retainer, or how

they were billed for certain services the firm rendered on behalf of the client.

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A paralegal shall not knowingly engage in fraudulent billing practices.

Paralegals should keep accurate records for billing, and not pad a client’s bill with hours or services that they did not do for the client. Also the paralegal should not pad a client’s bill for an attorney, and if they notice an accounting error in the

bill, they will need to bring it to the attention of their supervising attorney or the office manager.

23

A paralegal shall not enter into a partnership with an attorney.

The ABA Model Rule 5.4 prohibits an attorney from creating a partnership with someone who is not an attorney if the

partnership deals with practicing law.

24

A paralegal shall maintain all evidence in a manner to prevent spoliation.

A paralegal needs to be able to maintain evidence so that it does not get destroyed. Destroying evidence in some jurisdictions is cause for a civil suit where the injured party can collect damages for interference with

the ability to prove a claim.

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A paralegal shall not aid in the commission of a crime.

A paralegal is not under any obligations to help a client or supervising attorney in the commission of a crime. If they are aware that a crime is going to take place, they need to report

it to the authorities.

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Paralegals should never take legal ethics and professional behavior for granted.

Paralegals need to beware of the Ethical Rules that govern not only the legal profession but also those that govern

professional behavior. As a paralegal, one needs to take the profession seriously and not do anything that would shed

negative light on them as a paralegal. Also, paralegals need to be aware of how they act in the courtroom and the firm because their behavior will reflect on the firm and the paralegal. Just remember that once your reputation is damaged, you will have a

hard time repairing it both personally and professionally.

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