You are working with Redwood and Associates. Your company represents Lillian Smi

Question

You are working with Redwood and Associates. Your company represents Lillian Smith whose case is up for an ADR hearing. Mr. Redwood, the supervising attorney is concerned that he may not be able to attend Ms. Smith’s dispute resolution hearing because of a pending litigation with another client the same day. Mr. Redwood has asked you to attend the ADR hearing with Ms. Smith on his behalf. Mr. Redwood has asked you to contact Ms. Smith to remind her of the hearing and to let her know that you will be attending the hearing with her. Ms. Smith has expressed some concerns that you will be attending the hearing rather than Mr. Redwood, the attorney. She suggested that maybe you should handle the other client’s case so Mr. Redwood can attend her hearing.

Explain to Ms. Smith, based on the NALA cannons, why you may or may not be able to represent clients in litigation.

To help Ms. Smith understand this, discuss and explain what you can do when working with an attorney who represents clients in the dispute resolution process.

Provide Ms. Smith with at least one real world situation/example to help her understand your role.

Explanation / Answer

I would inform Ms. Smith that as a legal assistant, I work according to the guidelines set by NALA cannons. According to NALA cannons, legal assistants employed by a lawyer should be qualified by education, training or work experience. I posses the required qualification and experience based on which Redwood assigned the job to me. Hence I would be able to represent clients in litigation. The attorney would be ultimately responsible to the client and assumes the professional responsibility for the work done. Hence Mr. Redwood would never appoint someone who is not capable of performing the job.

According to the NALA cannons, I am not supposed to take any actions that attorneys may not take and my work would be properly delegated and supervised by Mr. Redwood. NALA cannons prohibits engaging in any act that would constitute the unauthorized practice of law or setting fees or taking actions in violation of professional ethics. I would not render any independent legal judgment in place of the attorney and hence Ms. Smith need not be worried on the chances of any wrong or immature judgments. I should also protect integrity and confidences of the client. Ms. Smith need not worry about the chances for me to have any personal relationship with the other party because all the relationships that may conflict the client interests are to be disclosed to Mr. Redwood as per the Cannon. I would work only as per the codes of professional responsibility and rules of professional conduct set by the bar association. All these factors would help to ensure a successful hearing without mistakes.

Consider the situation where Mr. Redwood is not able to attend litigation on a property dispute due to some personal emergencies and assigned the job to me. Though I am appearing for the case, my work would be guided by Mr. Redwood and I would make a judgment only after consulting with Redwood. If I give some wrong judgment, Redwood would be responsible for the money loss that may happen to the client. Hence my entire work would be under the supervision of Redwood and as per the guidelines set by the bar association.

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