Paralegal Studies

Step 1: Go to the American Bar Association website – www.americanbar.org or consult tab #2 in the Justice Studies Guide at http://guides.rasmussen.edu/justicestudies/IntroToLaw. Using the search bar on the ABA website, type Model Guidelines for the Utilization of Paralegal Services. Read though the Guidelines. Using Word, create a one-page, double-spaced document answering the following questions:

1. May a lawyer bill a client for a paralegal’s time?
2. Is it the supervising lawyer’s responsibility to take every possible measure to make sure that his paralegal preserves client confidences?
3. May a lawyer delegate to a paralegal the task of establishing the amount of fee to be charged a client for a legal service?
4. Is a lawyer responsible for all of the professional actions of a paralegal working under his direction?
5. Can a lawyer split his legal fee with a paralegal?

Save this document, and then complete the below research to add to this document.

Step 2: Go back to the ABA’s website. Use the search bar to locate the ABA’s Model Rules of Professional Conduct. Read through the Model Rules of Professional Conduct. On the second page of your Word document, answer the following questions:

1. May a lawyer who is not admitted to practice law in this jurisdiction, but who is admitted in another jurisdiction, hold himself out to the public as a lawyer admitted in this jurisdiction?
2. When is a lawyer responsible for the conduct of a paralegal (called a “nonlawyer assistant” in the relevant Model Rule)?
3. When does concurrent conflict of interest exist?
4. May a lawyer act as an advocate at a trial in which he is likely to be called as a witness if the testimony relates to the nature and value of the legal services rendered in the case?

Requirements:

• Your paper must be at least two pages.
• Your paper must answer all nine questions.