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Rule
Four: Disclosure of Status
A paralegal shall disclose
his or her status.
(1) A paralegal's status shall
be disclosed in all business and professional communications to avoid
misunderstandings and misconception about the paralegal's role and responsibilities.
(2) A paralegal's status shall
be included if the paralegal's name appears on business cards, letterhead,
brochure, directories, and advertisements.
(3) A paralegal shall promptly
clarify any misunderstanding when there is a reasonable belief that the
paralegal's status is misunderstood.
Commentary
To avoid misleading clients,
opposing counsel, court personnel, and judges, paralegals must disclose
their nonlawyer status. Disclosure designates communication of information
reasonably sufficient to avoid misleading others.
As the rule makes clear, disclosure
of nonlawyer status should be made in all written communications, such
as in paralegals business cards, law firm letterhead that includes the
names of paralegals, or other law firm advertisements. See e.g., ISBA
opinion No. 449 (1974). The rule also states that paralegal status should
be divulged upon a paralegal's face to face meeting with others during
the course of the paralegal's employment. Inclusion of the latter rule
was heavily debated by the Task Force, however. Some members of the Task
Force drafting this rule believed that it was not necessary for paralegals
to identify themselves as such when the subject of the communication was
a routine matter and could not be confused as involving the practice of
law. This matter was resolved by looking to the other codes in existence.
For example, in Guideline 4 of the American Bar Association Guidelines
for Legal Assistant Services, attorneys are directed as follows:
"It is the lawyer's responsibility
to take a reasonable measure to ensure that clients, courts, and other
lawyers are aware that a legal assistant, whose services are utilized
by the lawyer in performing legal services, is not licensed to practice
law".
Many paralegal codes, likewise,
direct that legal assistants should disclose their status as nonlawyers
at the beginning of any communication. See e.g., National Association
of Legal Assistants Model Standards and Guidelines for Utilization of
Legal Assistants Annotated, V; National Federation of Paralegal Associations
Model Code of Ethics and Professional responsibility, Cannon 6.
In the view of the Task Force,
then, the justification for this rule is to avoid confusion. A paralegal
who does not identify himself or herself as a nonlawyer can create the
appearance of engaging in the practice of law.
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