As a general rule, you should delegate work to the available team member (junior associate, paralegal) with the appropriate billing rate who is available and competent to do the work. But since time is a critical resource for any lawyer, a key question to answer is how much supervision or support the person will require.
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A number of duties and responsibilities can be delegated to a paralegal, as long as the paralegal doesn't engage in the unauthorized practice of law. During the initial steps in case management, the gathering of information from potential clients can be delegated to paralegals.
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.
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.
Not all legal tasks can or should be delegated to other employees in the company. Ethics rules in many states prohibit the delegation of certain work to non-attorney employees, such as appearing in court on behalf of a company or giving legal advice.
Ethical rules for paralegals to followParalegals cannot establish an attorney-client relationship. ... Paralegals are prohibited from setting client fees. ... Paralegals are not permitted to give legal advice. ... Paralegals are not allowed to represent clients in court. ... Proper supervision. ... Conflict screening. ... Confidentiality.More items...•
If paralegals breach legal ethics, serious sanctions can result, including suspension or revocation of your paralegal license, a fine, loss of your job, or, if there was criminal activity, referral to the appropriate authorities. Legal ethics for paralegals are similar to those for lawyers.
It describes the sources and broad definitions of lawyers' four responsibilities: duties to clients and stakeholders; duties to the legal system; duties to one's own institution; and duties to the broader society.
Conduct legal research. Draft legal documents, correspondence and pleadings. Summarize depositions, interrogatories and testimony. Attend executions of wills, real estate closings, depositions, court or administrative hearings and trials with the attorney.
How can a paralegal provide support to both the attorney and client when a matter is referred? Paralegals must understand the legal problem involved which must be referred. Paralegals should ensure to obtain all the necessary required information before referring the case to the attorney.
1. “Borrowing” client funds — Tapping into a retainer to cover payroll or overhead costs when those funds have actually been set aside for a client's specific matter can trigger an ethics violation — even if you plan on paying the money back “ASAP”.
“An Advocate shall not solicit work or advertise, either directly or indirectly, whether by circulars, advertisements, touts, personal communications, interview not warranted by personal relations, furnishing or inspiring newspaper comments or procuring his photograph to be published in connection with cases in which ...
These principles include the lawyer's obligation zealously to protect and pursue a client's legitimate interests, within the bounds of the law, while maintaining a professional, courteous and civil attitude toward all persons involved in the legal system.
Code on Professional Ethics of Lawyers in IndiaAct in a dignified manner. ... Respect the court. ... Not communicate in private. ... Refuse to act in an illegal manner towards the opposition. ... Refuse to represent clients who insist on unfair means. ... Appear in proper dress code. ... Refuse to appear in front of relations.More items...•
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.
Legal Clerk Duties and ResponsibilitiesPrepare legal correspondence, documentation, and other materials.Organize large amounts of legal documents, invoices, and letters.Compile legal documentation into files and maintain an organized filing system.Create photocopies and reproductions of records and legal documentation.More items...
Although not admitted to practice law (except for those who have obtained a law degree), paralegals often perform legal tasks which are also performed by lawyers. Under the supervision of a senior lawyer they can run their own files and conduct work which may have otherwise been undertaken by a junior lawyer.
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. ***. ...
Appropriate supervision is key because a lawyer is ultimately responsible for all the actions of any paralegal under their employ.
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.”
If a paralegal is hired without being screened, the firm runs the risk of being disqualified from representing a client or being involved in a particular matter, should a conflict come to light later on.
For many lawyers, delegation can seem like an impossible task. Using these steps will help you be more strategic and, thus, more effective. The end result: You will be able to free yourself up to tackle the most valuable work, thereby growing your practice, advancing your legal career, and developing others along the way.
Now that you know what you are delegating, the next step is to determine to whom you should delegate the work.
In other words, don’t let their current state prevent you from investing in developing their talent. Have an honest conversation with the associate or bring in your firm’s talent development professionals to help.
Examples: Administrative tasks (such as organizing files, getting docket updates and so on); routine project management tasks; data gathering on the opposing party and their attorneys. (We are using litigation as an example, but the same reasoning applies to transactional practices.)
Spend some time analyzing whether some aspects of the work can be broken down into less complex tasks that can be delegated to others. Yes, it will take time to do, but from a strategic perspective, it will be a high-impact activity and time well spent. (More on that later.)
By taking on certain tasks (like handling legal paperwork and conducting legal research), paralegals improve law firm efficiency, save lawyers time, and help provide a better overall client-centered service. Here are some of the key services a supervised paralegal can provide to improve your practice:
Using a paralegal to assist with legal tasks doesn’t just make you more efficient—it also saves you (and your clients) money. Because paralegals charge lower rates than you do as an attorney, delegating certain tasks to them means a lower overall cost for your firm’s services.
It’s important, as always, that paralegals respect the same client confidentiality rules that a lawyer would. A trained paralegal can also have excellent interview and interpersonal skills to assist with interviews.
By delegating support and non-billable legal tasks to a paralegal, you can boost law firm efficiency in multiple ways. Assigning specific tasks to your paralegal means allowing them to focus and excel in those areas. For example, a skilled paralegal may be excellent at conducting legal research quickly and efficiently, especially if that’s one of their primary daily job responsibilities. Additionally, while your paralegal takes support tasks off your plate, you can spend more time on billable work. Overall, the law firm then becomes more productive.
Did you know lawyers spend a significant portion of their workdays on legal administrative support tasks that don’t bring in revenue? Specifically, lawyers only spend an average of 31% of their workdays on billable work, according to the 2020 Legal Trends Report. By delegating non-billable tasks to a paralegal, your firm can be more productive. This way, you’ll also free up more of your time to focus on billable work.
Ethical considerations for hiring paralegals. Remember: Paralegals work under the supervision of lawyers. As valuable as paralegals can be to your firm, it’s important to understand the limits of what work they can take on. You must also understand your role and responsibilities as a supervising lawyer.
Attorneys are, by nature, busy. So what can paralegals do to help? When supervised by a licensed lawyer, paralegals can take on substantive legal tasks. This ultimately saves you time and money.
The 70 percent rule says that if the person you’d like to perform the task can do it at least 70 percent as well as you can, you should delegate it.
If you have a teammate who lacks the skill-set to execute a task, this does not mean the work cannot be delegated. Most skills can be learned, some more easily than others, so don’t be afraid to teach as a part of the delegation process.
Many of the worst management and organizational weaknesses that we have observed in law firms and law departments can be traced directly to poor delegation skills . Lawyers who have not learned the art of delegation find themselves under constant pressure to meet seemingly impossible demands. Roles and responsibilities become confused, resulting in some work getting done twice while other tasks slip through the cracks. Inequitable workloads and inefficient use of time cripple efforts to improve. Micro-management, at one extreme, and abdication of responsibility, at the other, are frequently confused with effective delegation.
Even if legal work appears to be appropriate for delegation, there still may be formidable obstacles to overcome. These will usually have to be confronted and overcome before truly effective delegation can take place. Ignoring them will often result in a spectacular failure of delegation, which could set the firm or legal department even further back.
Even when appropriate work is delegated to the appropriate person, delegation can still turn to disaster if the two parties fail to take the time to manage the delegation. Both parties need to agree and clearly define, at the outset, issues such as:
After your non-legal employees have finished the assignment, make sure to carefully review their work before submitting it to an outside party or management. Checking the work that you delegate to non-legal employees is not just a smart thing to do—both instruction and oversight are required by many states’ ethics rules.
To comply with professional ethics obligations, as well as to maximize the chances of effective delegation, you will need to oversee the work of non-legal employees before, during, and after assigning them legal work.
Great in-house counsel also provide their non-legal employees an opportunity to provide feedback on the assignment and oversight procedures so that the in-house counsel can improve how he or she delegates minor legal tasks in the future.
Companies often hire in-house counsel to take on the legal tasks that they had previously sent out to expensive law firms that bill by the hour. However, as companies grow, so do those legal tasks.
At a minimum, look for employees who are extremely detail-oriented— even the most minor legal tasks often require close attention to things like document changes, dates, and signatures.
Ethics rules in many states prohibit the delegation of certain work to non-attorney employees, such as appearing in court on behalf of a company or giving legal advice. Beyond the ethics rules, most companies would agree that high-risk or overly complex legal work should remain with in-house or outside counsel.
For example, many states require that lawyers provide non-legal employees with instruction and supervision concerning the ethical aspects of their employment, including obligations not to disclose confidential information or work product.