Professional responsibility is at the core of delivering effective legal
services. Paralegals are expected to obey the ethics rules by which
their lawyer employers are bound. To help paralegals stay on top of
ethics issues, the ABA Center for Professional Responsibility has
updated The Paralegal's Guide to Professional Responsibility. The
fifth edition reviews the ethics issues that are relevant to paralegals,
legal assistants, secretaries, and other employees of law firms,
corporations, and law-related organizations and offers guidance that can
be adapted to practice in any jurisdiction. This edition encompasses all
recent changes to the Model Rules, along with updated references to
court decisions and other resources. The book is designed to help
paralegals understand key areas of the Model Rules and related ethics
issues. Subjects include:
- what constitutes the unauthorized practice of law
- what a lawyer cannot delegate to a paralegal
- the issues of competence and diligence in a paralegal's work
- the paralegal and confidentiality
- conflicts of interest
- client funds and property
- advertising
- legal fees and employee compensation
- Develop ethics research skills
In addition to a thorough examination of the Model Rules as they relate
to paralegals, the Guide provides an introduction to basic texts and
materials used in legal ethics research and includes:
- concise explanations of the law of professional responsibility
- tools for identifying and resolving ethical problems
- practical tips to use in everyday practice
- a method for categorizing most legal ethics materials
- Time-saving features and appendices
To help you find the information you need quickly, the book includes
time saving features such as chapter summaries, quick-reference text
boxes, bullet points, and easy-to-find chapter divisions related to
specific subtopics. The Guide also includes an index, a glossary of
terms and several appendices containing requirements, rules, codes,
research aids and guidelines of use to the legal assistant.
