The Ethics of the Texas Paralegal Standards
By Ellen Lockwood, ACP, RP
In April 2006, the Board of Directors of
the State Bar of Texas adopted the
Texas Paralegal Standards (the “Standards”). These standards were adopted to
clarify and further define the definition of
a paralegal as well as “to assist the public
in obtaining quality legal services, assist
attorneys in their utilization of paralegals,
and assist judges in determining whether
paralegal work is a reimbursable cost when
granting attorney fees.”
While the adherence to the education,
training, and work experience portion of
the Standards is not mandatory, more and
more firms and companies are adopting
the Standards as their hiring guidelines for
paralegals. In addition, as the judiciary
becomes more familiar with the standards,
many judges around the state are informing
attorneys who appear before them that
any request for reimbursement of attorneys’
fees that include paralegal fees must
comply with the Standards.
Paralegals should discuss the Standards
with their attorneys in order to be prepared
to provide evidence that they meet
the Standards in order increase the probability
of approval of reimbursement of
paralegal fees as part of a claim for attorneys’
fees.
Education, Training, and Work Experience. If a paralegal is an Active member of the
Division, then she meets the Standards’
guidelines for education, training, and
work experience. Active members of the
Division must also have at least six hours
of CLE per year, which is evidence of
efforts to maintain competence. As the
Standards also encourage attorneys to
promote paralegal attendance at CLE, as
well as certification and membership in
professional organizations, paralegals
should discuss with their attorneys the
benefits of these activities.
Substantive Legal Work
Adherence to the definition of “substantive
legal work” is usually critical to the
award of paralegal fees as part of a request
for attorneys’ fees. Judges are almost
never willing to approve paralegal time for
tasks that are primarily clerical in nature
and opposing counsel will also argue
against the inclusion of such time entries
in an award. Time entries should be crafted
with goal of clearly identifying the substantive
legal work performed.
Ethical Obligations
As the definition and Standards make
clear, paralegals must work under the
direct supervision of a licensed attorney.
Unfortunately, when attorneys are busy,
and when they come to trust and rely
upon their paralegals, they often don’t
supervise their paralegals as thoroughly as
they should. It is up the paralegal to make
sure the supervising attorney is providing
adequate supervision. This may mean
insisting that an attorney completely
review documents drafted by a paralegal,
reminding the attorney that certain duties
are not appropriate for a paralegal to perform,
and not giving legal advice, even
when the paralegal knows exactly the
answer the attorney would provide.
Paralegals should also be familiar with the
ethical requirements for paralegals and
help educate their attorneys about paralegal
ethics. While these requirements are
listed in the Standards, a more complete
list is the Code of Ethics and Professional
Responsibility of the Paralegal Division of
the State Bar of Texas, available at
www.txpd.org.
If a firm, company, or agency is not
familiar with the Standards it would be
prudent to make the organization aware of
the Standards and the likelihood that the
organization will need to determine how
the organization will comply.
Ellen Lockwood, ACP, RP, is the Chair of the Professional Ethics Committee of the
Paralegal Division and a past President of the Division. She is a frequent
speaker on paralegal ethics and intellectual property and the lead author of the
Division’s Paralegal Ethics Handbook published by West Legalworks.
Ellen Lockwood is an Advanced Certified
Paralegal in intellectual property by the
National Association of Legal Assistants and
a registered paralegal by the National Federation
of Paralegal Associations. She is a past
President and District 5 Director of the
Paralegal Division.
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