Law Office Management: Ethical Duties & Responsibilities of Paralegals

This presentation provides a comprehensive overview of the ethical responsibilities of paralegals in law office management. It emphasizes the importance of ethical behavior, professional integrity, and competence, highlighting the need for paralegals to adhere to a code of ethics and maintain high legal standards. Key topics include avoiding the unauthorized practice of law, upholding client privilege, managing conflicts of interest, and providing accurate information to clients about their role. The presentation also includes multiple-choice questions to test understanding and concludes by stressing the importance of ethical training for paralegals to maintain their professional status. References to relevant legal publications are also included.

Law Office Management

Introduction
Ethical behaviour is one of the most important things in
the legal world. A highest legal standards need to be
presented by the lawyers and paralegals so that they can
argue on upholding the law.
Any breach of legal ethics can lead to revocation or
deferment of paralegal license, loss of job, a fine or strict
action for criminal activity.
For any doubt, Paralegals must adopt ethics code which
has been defined by their paralegal association.
It includes the Code of Ethics and Professional
Responsibilities that can help them in making decisions
related to ethics.
Paralegals work closely with layers and to uphold the law
it is necessary for them to follow the code of ethics.

Professional integrity and
professional competence
Paralegals can be considered as the legal
profession’s representatives and they must keep
their performance above reproof.
The two important things for paralegals to exude are
integrity and competence.
Paralegals required executing all tasks systematically
and they should always look for improving their skills
and legal knowledge.
They are into a very serious job and they must
maintain professional conduct exactly like a teacher,
doctor or counsellor. Otherwise, they are very likely
to lose their integrity which may cause of losing jobs
(Currier &Eimermann, 2013).

Professional integrity and
professional competence
Getting gifts from different clients can show
the hard work of a paralegal and his/her
dedication towards the job.
 If a paralegal receives a coffee mug
printed client’s logo on it can be
appreciated and appropriate.
At the same time if a paralegal is being
offered with a certificate of $100 or an
invitation for spending a weekend on
client's yacht must be refused politely.

Abstain from performing the
unauthorized practice of the law
Just like the lawyers' paralegals are also responsible
for escaping from the uncertified practice of the law.
Paralegals should only carry out those tasks which
are assigned to them by their respective supervising
attorney.
They must avoid engaging in certain activates that
are only meant to the lawyers, to whom they are
working for.
The most important thing that must be clear to
every paralegal is about helping clients with a legal
opinion or giving advice (Larbalestrier&Spagnola,
2014).

Abstain from performing the
unauthorized practice of the law
There was a case in 2001, in which a client
had been represented by Ohio paralegal for
a case of personal injury.
The paralegal was found for disrespecting
unauthorized practice of the law as
because he was not under the supervision
of his attorney.
 The judge punished and ordered the
paralegal to pay the entire legal cost of the
case.

Upholding and respecting client
privilege
In the legal world, client-attorney privilege is
basically about confidentially.
A client can share information with the lawyers
on the basis of the trust that the information
would not be shared with any other party.
The client-paralegal privilege can be seen when
the lawyers delegate the task to the paralegals
for examining the client.
The process state that the communications
between the paralegal and client need to be
secret.

Upholding and respecting client
privilege
The paralegals cannot share any confidential
information to a neutral party and if it happens
then it is considered to be breaching of the
contract.
Paralegals cannot disclose the client's
information for his or her personal benefits.
If a paralegal gets a bribe for the growth of the
firm by disclosing the information then he or she
should not accept it.
In this digital age, both client and paralegal
communicating via text or email need to be
careful very much.

Conflicts of interest
It is very much important for the paralegals
to maintain always client privilege in order
to grow in the market.
It is necessary for the paralegals to avoid
getting involved in the tasks which consist
of conflicts of interest between the clients of
the current employers and clients from the
previous job.
If the paralegal knows the information then
it can be a disadvantageous or threat to one
of the party.

Conflicts of interest
The paralegals should take an appropriate
step when such circumstance occurs by
solving the issue.
If a paralegal is facing conflicts of interest
then it is to be informed to the lawyer and
tell him or her that it is not possible for
being the part of the case.
Both lawyer and paralegal are suggested
not to be involved in the tasks which
include conflicts of interest.

Providing all information to the
clients
Paralegals should disclose the fact that they
are work under the guidance of the lawyers.
If a client does not have knowledge about the
paralegals then he or she will consider them
as the lawyer at the law firm.
If a paralegal does not tells that he is not a
lawyer and cannot provide legal advice then
he or she is violating the law.
A paralegal not disclosing the truth is
considered to be unauthorized practice
carried out by him.

Multiple choice questions
Paralegals are allowed to negotiate the fees of the lawyers with the clients.
There is no such duty for paralegals to maintain the confidentiality of the
clients.
A paralegal cannot draft those documents that contain legal advice.
A client sends a watch to a paralegal's home to say thank you for his hard
work. A paralegal is allowed to accept the watch.
One of the main objectives of the ethics code for paralegals to abstain from
the uncertified practice of law.
The paralegals should disclose conferential information communicated by the
clients.
Sharing of confidential information of clients to any other party by paralegals
is considered to be breaching the law.
The paralegals should involve in the tasks which consist of conflicts of interest
between two clients.
A paralegal having a piece of information can be disadvantageous for one of
the two parties.
The paralegals should disclose the truth to the clients that they are not
lawyers and cannot give legal advice.