Preview Unit 10

1. Legal Ethics – Unit Nine THE DUTY OF ZEALOUS REPRESENTATION Unit Eight Review Unit Nine Preview Preview Unit 10

2. Unit 8 review • In Unit Eight we discussed Competence and Negligence. This unit helped prepare you to handle potential advocacy issues that you may encounter working as legal assistants in litigation settings. Legal assistants play a major role in litigation; therefore, legal assistants must have a strong understanding of the ethics rules governing advocacy. • Assignments: • Read about miscellaneous ethics issues, including competence, negligence, truthfulness, and non-lawyer malpractice: •           Chapter 7-Ethics for the Legal Professional • Practiced by using the web links in this unit • Discussed what you have learned (graded) • Met at the weekly seminar to further explore the concepts in this unit (graded) • Submit the written assignment for this unit (graded) • Take a short Quiz (graded)

3. Unit 8 review • In unit 8, you learned: • How competence is measured for the lawyer; • What “mental competence” is; • Whether or not there are other causes of action against negligent lawyers; • What it means to be competent in a specific area; • How negligent disregard for a client is different; • Defenses to a negligence claim; • The statute of limitations in negligence actions; • Who can sue for professional negligence; and • Whether or not there is a cause of action for negligent referral.

4. Unit 8 review • The key concepts in unit 8 focused on key terms and definitions related to competence and professionalism in the legal world. • In unit 8 you explored the following topics and concepts: • Competence • Fiduciary • Respondeat Superior • Elements of a negligence action • Malpractice

5. Unit Eight Review Review Questions: Attorney Anter is a criminal defense lawyer. In the case of Rio, Anter failed to adequately prepare for the case, barely spoke to his client until the trial got under way and failed to properly cross-examine prosecution witnesses. According to the judge who heard the case, Anter should not have put Rio on the witness stand because Rio admitted being a member of a gang which probably helped the jury decide that he was guilty of being involved in a drive-by shooting. The judge set aside the jury's verdict. Anter  A. is not guilty of negligence because the judge set aside the jury's verdict. B. is guilty of negligence unless he refunds the money he took from the client's family. C. is guilty of negligence for failure to represent Rio competently. D. may be guilty of negligence depending upon the standard of competence in his community.

6. Unit Eight Review • Review Questions: • Paralegal Mara has been working for a plaintiff's personal injury firm for 4 years and is looking for a change. She's thinking about a job with a real estate firm, but she has no experience in that area. Options for Mara are: • A.  going back to school to take some courses in real estate and related topics. • reading some real estate practice manuals and articles about the duties that paralegals have in that area of the law. • taking some continuing legal education courses through her local paralegal or bar organization. • all of the above.

7. Unit Eight Review • Review Questions: • Coty is a paralegal who works in the family law deparment for Biggy, Stan & Houston law firm. The firm has a policy that each paralegal and lawyer must do at least 100 hours of pro bono work but the firm typically takes on a big pro bono case that they can all work on together. This year, the case the firm took on involves antitrust litigation and it is pretty complex. Coty doesn't really understand the work that he is asked to do on the case but he isn't concerned because "it's just a pro bono case." As Coty's friend, you should • A.  tell Coty that he is not responsible for working on the case because he is in the family law department. • tell Coty that the law requires that all of his work must be his best work, regardless of how much the firm is getting paid for the work. • tell Coty that he's probably right but he should document his lack of concern in the file. • keep your mouth closed. If Coty gets in trouble, that's his problem.

8. Preview Unit 9 • Unit Nine discusses the Duty of Zealous Representation. This unit will help you understand the attorney’s duty to represent his client zealously and the paralegal’s concomitant duty to do the same. You will learn the importance of avoiding deliberate and accidental deceit during the discovery process and proper ways to talk to jurors and to the press during litigation. • Assignments: • Read about the attorney’s duty to represent his client zealously, yet without crossing the boundaries of the law by committing unethical practices.: •           Chapter 8-Ethics for the Legal Professional • Practice by using the web links in this unit (graded) • Discuss what you have learned (graded) • Meet at the weekly seminar to further explore the concepts in this unit (graded) • Take the Final Exam by the end of this unit (graded)

9. Unit Nine Review Review Questions: The defendant in a criminal case has the right to complete loyalty and the good faith best efforts of a competent lawyer at every stage of the legal representation, including the trial.        True       False

10. Unit Nine Review Review Questions: A legal professional is obligated to remove adverse case law from a trial brief when the case law is detrimental to your client’s case.        True       False

11. Unit Nine Review Review Questions: Although attorneys may not discuss a current case with the press, paralegals are free to do so.        True       False

12. Unit Nine Review Review Questions: A legal professional may destroy original documents subject to a discovery request as long as legible copies are retained.        True       False

13. Unit Nine Review Review Questions: Lawyers and paralegals are not permitted to withhold information requested by the opposing party in pretrial discovery on the sole basis that the information is detrimental to the client's case.        True       False

14. Unit Nine Review Review Questions: Telling a small white lie to obtain information from the opposing side is generally considered permissible.        True       False Using pretextual information is allowed as long as you pay a fair price.        True       False

15. Preview Unit 10 Unit Ten - Reflective Summary Throughout this course, you have learned about the various facets of Legal Ethics. This last unit gives you a chance to reflect on what you have learned and gauge how this course has helped you

16. Unit Seven Review • Review Questions: • Fee agreements with clients • should not be negotiated by paralegals. • should be in writing. • should be fully explained to the client. • should be fair and reasonable. • all of the above.

17. Unit Seven Review • Review Questions: • “Hourly rate” fee agreements are • illegal in most states. • common but unethical. • common in plaintiff’s personal injury work. • common in divorce cases. • common in criminal prosecutions.

18. Unit Seven Review • Review Questions: • All timekeeping and billing records prepared and maintained by paralegals must be : • thorough. • accurate. • honest. • prepared contemporaneously with the work. • all of the above.

19. Unit Seven Review • Review Questions: • “Contingency fee” means • The lawyer gets paid regardless of the outcome of the case. • The lawyer gets paid on an hourly basis if the case is won. • The law firm’s recovery of legal fees is contingent upon the outcome of the case. • The law firm will probably not get paid. • The law firm’s costs must be paid by the client, but the legal fees will be a percentage of the money that the client wins or is entitled to by settlement.

20. Unit Seven Review • Review Questions: • If compensation for paralegal time is sought by a lawyer, the application to the courts for fees should include: • a detailed statement of the time spent and legally substantive tasks performed by the paralegal. • the paralegal’s resume showing past work experience. • a statement showing the paralegal’s education and training to perform the paralegal work. • the market rate for paralegal services in that practice area and geographical location. • all of the above.

21. Adjourn Have a great week… “See” you on the Discussion Boards