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Indiana Rules of Professional Conduct
Use of Legal Assistants
Subject to the provisions in Rule 5.3, all lawyers may use
legal assistants in accordance with the following guidelines.
Guideline 9.1. Supervision.
A legal assistant shall perform services only
under the direct supervision of a lawyer authorized to practice in the State
of Indiana and in the employ of the lawyer or the lawyer's employer.
Independent legal assistants, to-wit, those not employed by a specific firm
or by specific lawyers are prohibited. A lawyer is responsible for all of
the professional actions of a legal assistant performing legal assistant
services at the lawyer's direction and should take reasonable measures to
insure that the legal assistants conduct is consistent with the lawyer's
obligations under the Rules of Professional Conduct.
Guideline 9.2. Permissible delegation.
Provided the lawyer maintains responsibility for
the work product, a lawyer may delegate to a legal assistant any task
normally performed by the lawyer; however, any task prohibited by statute,
court rule, administrative rule or regulation, controlling authority,
Indiana Rules of Professional Conduct may not be assigned to a non-lawyer.
Guideline 9.3. Prohibited delegation.
A lawyer may not delegate to a legal assistant:
(a) responsibility for establishing an attorney-client
relationship;
(b) responsibility for establishing the amount of a fee
to be charged for a legal service; or
(c) responsibility for a legal opinion rendered to a
client.
Guideline 9.4. Duty to inform.
It is the lawyer's responsibility to take
reasonable measures 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.
Guideline 9.5. Identification on letterhead.
A lawyer may identify legal assistants by name and
title on the lawyer's letterhead and on business cards identifying the
lawyer's firm.
Guideline 9.6. Client confidences.
It is the responsibility of a lawyer to take
reasonable measures to ensure that all client confidences are preserved by a
legal assistant.
Guideline 9.7. Charge for services.
A lawyer may charge for the work performed by a
legal assistant.
Guideline 9.8. Compensation.
A lawyer may not split legal fees with a legal
assistant nor pay a legal assistant for the referral of legal business. A
lawyer may compensate a legal assistant based on the quantity and quality of
the legal assistant's work and the value of that work to a law practice, but
the legal assistant's compensation may not be contingent, by advance
agreement, upon the profitability of the lawyer's practice.
Guideline 9.9. Continuing legal education.
A lawyer who employs a legal assistant should
facilitate the legal assistant's participation in appropriate continuing
education and pro bono publico activities.
Guideline 9.10. Legal assistant ethics.
All lawyers who employ legal assistants in the
State of Indiana shall assure that such legal assistants conform their
conduct to be consistent with the following ethical standards:
(a) A legal assistant may perform any task delegated and
supervised by a lawyer so long as the lawyer is responsible to the client,
maintains a direct relationship with the client, and assumes full
professional responsibility for the work product.
(b) A legal assistant shall not engage in the
unauthorized practice of law.
(c) A legal assistant shall serve the public interest by
contributing to the delivery of quality legal services and the improvement
of the legal system.
(d) A legal assistant shall achieve and maintain a high
level of competence, as well as a high level of personal and professional
integrity and conduct.
(e) A legal assistant's title shall be fully disclosed
in all business and professional communications.
(f) A legal assistant shall preserve all confidential
information provided by the client or acquired from other sources before,
during, and after the course of the professional relationship.
(g) A legal assistant shall avoid conflicts of interest
and shall disclose any possible conflict to the employer or client, as
well as to the prospective employers or clients.
(h) A legal assistant shall act within the bounds of the
law, uncompromisingly for the benefit of the client.
(i) A legal assistant shall do all things incidental,
necessary, or expedient for the attainment of the ethics and
responsibilities imposed by statute or rule of court.
(j) A legal assistant shall be governed by the American
Bar Association Model Code of Professional Responsibility and the American
Bar Association Model Rules of Professional Conduct.
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Indiana Paralegal Association, Inc.
