Ethical Dilemmas for Lawyers, Staff, and Management Essay

1.16 (A).1, 5.5(B) - Upon learning that Carl had taken on a case on his own, which is an example of unauthorized practice of law, Attorney Howe should have notified the clients that Carl did not have such authority to take on a case, set discounted fees or conduct an interview without Attorney Howe’s supervision, thus in good consciousness Attorney Howe cannot take on clients under fraudulent circumstances.

The law profession is zealously guarded. An applicant to the bar must demonstrate the requisite character, fitness, and moral qualifications to be admitted. In re Application of Greenberg. An applicant for admission to the bar...shall not knowingly make false statements of material fact or fail to disclose a fact necessary to correct a misapprehension known by the person to have arisen in the matter... See generally, MPC, 8.1. It is professional misconduct for a lawyer to commit a criminal act that reflects adversely as a lawyer in other respects... MPC, 8.4(b).

In beginning my research assignment on the paralegal profession and its impact on ethics, I recalled the information that I learned from Chapter 8 Online Search Techniques: Learning the Methods in the “Legal Research and Writing for Paralegals” textbook. Prior to my search commencing I recalled from Chapter 9 that the most common URL suffixes are .com, .org, .net, .gov, and.edu; but to use my best judgment to determine the accuracy and reliability of a Web site. I learned that search engines provide the link to the Internet or World Wide Web. This process assisted me in gathering information based upon a given set of search terms. I performed a key word search using the Google search engine. Google provides general and advanced searches with an extensive database. I entered in the query “paralegal ethics.” I avoided using the noise word “and” by placing a space between two words which is automatically considered “and” on Google.com. Of the 649,000 results I used the first result from www.nala.org/code.aspx. This was the website of NALA, the National Association of Legal Assistants. “NALA Code of Ethics and Professional Responsibility” was first adopted by the NALA in May of 1975. It is the foundation of ethical practices of paralegals in the legal community. The performance of the duties of a paralegal are governed by specific canons as defined in NALA Code of Ethics and Professional Responsibility so that justice will be served and goals of the profession attained. The

There are many similarities between the 3 codes of paralegal services such as the 3 stating that a paralegal may perform any task which is properly delegated and supervised by an attorney. Rule 1.1 in the Modern Rules of Professional Conduct, Guideline 2 in the ABA Guidelines, and the Code of Ethics on Nala all state this in their paralegal guidelines. They all state the same guideline because it only makes sense that a paralegal, who is not fully qualified as a lawyer, must receive the training and experience in a real world scenario considering the fact that they know the ins and outs of how the system functions. Also considering the fact that all 3 sources also state that a lawyer may not share legal fees with their paralegal

Law enforcement men and women put their lives on the line to serve and protect the communities that they live in but it is when one or two of those make a bad decision that can quickly change the perspective of society. This perspective of trust, respect, safety and integrity can be changed in a short time by a few unethical choices and to rebuild that perspective can take many years. This is a sad world that we live in when we cannot trust the people that have sworn to serve and protect our communities to make the right decisions when it comes to their duties.

Paralegals are restricted from certain things. Some things that they cannot do is give legal advice, set legal fees or sign motions, briefs, pleadings (or other legal documents) or appear in court for a client.

There are many more cases like prostitution, robbery, arson, DNA evidence, felonies, traffic violations that require the services of lawyers. The lawyers first try to get details of the charges their clients have been accused of. They look to gather evidence, study and review the evidence, examine and question witnesses, look for all possible loopholes, consult their co lawyers and seniors and then prepare for the case trial.

The ethical obligation of the defense attorney is set forth in what in most states is called the code of responsibilities for and attorney. The defense lawyer is a term more commonly applied to an attorney involved in defending a client in a criminal case with no issue on how guilty they are. Some call them warriors for equity, others use less approving terms. The point when a man is suspected of a wrongdoing, no one can remain alongside that person with the exception of his/her lawyer. Regularly the group and even the family will separate itself from a denounced, paying little mind to blame or guiltlessness. Employments are lost and lives demolished. At the littlest, the expense of protecting oneself will bankrupt most subjects. As the expense

Unfortunately, the implementation and use of ethics within a field, such as the criminal justice field should be expected, yet finding examples of unethical actions is almost routine. In the article Police who fail to report college’s hotel peeping called to ethics hearing by Melinda Dalton (2016), police officers are being prosecuted for their lack of response when a fellow member was peeping in on hotel guests. First of all, the initial officer involved displayed his lack of acknowledgment for the moral duties accompanied with his position, as well as entire disregard for moral judgement leading to the abuse of power. This officer strayed from remaining centered within his roles and failed to determine the ethical issues that emerged, allowing

There are limits as a defense attorney and a code of ethics. Attorney’s cannot break the law or violate the rules of ethics by lying to the court. In addition, they cannot persuade someone to commit perjury. Any statement the client makes to the attorney is privileged and the attorney cannot disclose this information to anyone. It is critical to uphold the integrity of the law and all applicable ethical codes. However, there are three exceptions that will compromise the attorney client privilege, which include: If a client informs his or her attorney, they plan on committing future criminal acts.

Although defense attorneys have their own opinions about their clients, defendants in general “view their lawyers with suspicion” (Neubauer, pg. 189). Most defendants believe that appointed attorneys and private attorneys a bit arrogant considering that they have been “chosen” to provide for the case. As to public defenders, defendants believe that they will not assist them to the best of their ability or work hard enough because they get paid winning or loosing the case. Defendants have very little trust and confidence in their defense attorneys. Attorneys also may face a lot of pressure from personal relationships such as friends and family. Clients having personal relationship involved in the case can built up a conflict between the client and attorney because friends and family may disapprove of the representation. “Personal relationships represent an important source of client referrals—and some people may no longer recommend a lawyer who represented a serial rapist” (Laufenberg, 2005). Putting all of the distrust from both the attorney and client, the attorney has duties that they owe to their clients: zealous representation, abide clients decisions, keeping the client informed of every movement, confidentiality, and avoids conflict of

A lawyer shall provide competent representation to a client. Competent representation requires the legal knowledge, skill, thoroughness, and preparation reasonably necessary for representation. A lawyer is presumed to be competent upon passing the bar and practicing law.

Bad advice does not always subject an attorney to liability. This is the result of a recent ruling made by the California Court of Appeal for the Second District. Attorneys have a duty to provide legal services competently to clients. Rule of Professional Conduct 3-110 provides that a lawyer may not “intentionally, recklessly, or repeatedly fail to perform legal services with competence.” Providing services with competence means having the diligence, learning and skill, and mental, emotional, and physical ability reasonably necessary for the services. A violation of this rule may subject an attorney to disciplinary proceedings.

2. I feel like they might have had a contract but they didn’t actually agree to it. First off the contract was not defined right because both parties didn’t have an understanding of it. Plus he did not accept the offer confirming that he was accepting the price and when he did Hazelton’s amitted to the mistake. When he did that he took the offer off the table so in the end whatever contract they had was invalid.

Based on the reading for this week, describe the role of a paralegal and the skills necessary to be a paralegal. Why are these skills important? Are paralegals able to represent clients? What is attorney-client privilege and how does this relate to the role of a paralegal? Summarize the Biblical Model as presented by Professor Bern.