Description:
Be prepared – learn how to expertly handle ethical issues.
The responsibilities and professional obligations of paralegals are impacted by various rules of professional conduct and national, state, and local professional association guidelines. Paralegals face the same ethics issues which attorneys encounter and are also responsible for following the ethics rules applicable to lawyers.
Thus, paralegals should not only know the applicable guidelines for paralegals, but should also understand the rules of professional conduct applicable to lawyers, the subjects of which rules paralegals are likely to encounter on a regular basis. The more paralegals are aware of the rules and their application in practice, the more paralegals will avoid problems.
This topic will give you an overview of common ethics issues, guidelines, and the rules of professional conduct applicable to lawyers as well as the paralegals who assist them.
Rules and Guidelines Applicable to Paralegals
• Rules of Professional Conduct
• American Bar Association Guidelines
• Association Guidelines
Particular Areas of Concern
• Competence and Diligence
• Confidentiality
• Professional Integrity and Honesty
• Conflicts of Interest
• Responsibility of Supervising Attorneys
• Unauthorized Practice of Law
Credit Information (Sponsored by Lorman Education Services):
- NALA
- NFPA
- Paralegals
Only registered attendee will receive continuing education credit.
Instructor Profile:
Gilda T. Russell, Morrison & Foerster LLP
- Former partner and the Ethics & Conflicts counsel for Holland & Knight LLP for 15 years; Holland & Knight LLP is a large international law firm with offices across the country and abroad
- Handled conflicts resolution for the firm’s new matters and lateral hires, resolved other ethics issues, and conducted education of lawyers and staff in professional conduct
- Consultant and/or counsel to lawyers in bar discipline matters and expert witness in attorney disqualification and malpractice cases
- Published books - including two treatises in legal ethics - articles, chapters, and seminar materials on professional conduct and legal ethics, evidence, and trial advocacy
- Taught classes in professional conduct and legal ethics, among other subjects, at law schools including Loyola Law School, Los Angeles, McGeorge School of Law, the University of the Pacific, Northeastern Law School; Boston College Law School, the University of Colorado Law School, the University of San Diego Law School, California Western School of Law, and Florida Coastal School of Law
- Fellow of the American Bar Foundation; named a Massachusetts Super Lawyer in Super Lawyers magazine
- LL.M. degree, Harvard Law School; J.D. degree, cum laude, Boston College Law School; M.T.S. degree in theological studies, Harvard Divinity School; B.A. degree, magna cum laude, University of New Mexico
- Licensed to practice law in Massachusetts and New Mexico
(Not available outside the US)