- Paralegals must maintain a high level of competency through continued education and training. They must disclose that they are paralegals, not lawyers, and cannot practice law without authorization. - Paralegals are held to high ethical standards and must avoid conflicts of interest, keep client communications confidential, and not engage in unauthorized practice of law. They cannot establish attorney-client relationships or set fees without authorization. - Paralegals must perform their duties efficiently and improve their legal knowledge over time while avoiding improper communications or fraudulent billing practices that could damage their and their firm's reputation.

1. Crystal Adkins
A PARALEGAL’S GUIDE TO
ETHICS.

2. - 1 -
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.

3. - 2 -
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.

4. - 3 -
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.

5. - 4 -
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.

6. - 5 -
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.

7. - 6 -
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.

8. - 7 -
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.

9. - 8 -
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.

10. - 9 -
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.

11. - 10 -
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.

12. - 11 -
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.

13. - 12 -
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.

14. - 13 -
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. - 14 -
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.

16. - 15 -
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. - 16 -
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. - 17 -
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.

19. - 18 -
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.

20. - 19 -
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.

21. - 20 -
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.

22. - 21 -
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.

23. - 22 -
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.

24. - 23 -
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.

25. - 24 -
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.