Mississippi Bar v. Thompsoninvolves a lawyer being disciplined for the conduct of her paralegal, who had been in prison, and addresses an array of competency and supervision issues.

Questions about the Case

1. What was the relationship of the lawyer Thompson and her paralegal Tubwell? Why did she hire Tubwell? Was he qualified to work as a paralegal? What kinds of background checks or conditions should lawyers insist on when hiring a paralegal?
2. What were the ways in which Tubwell acted unethically or incompetently in this case? What should Thompson have done to prevent these breaches?
3. What did you learn about protecting the records of clients? What other ethical issues are raised by Thompson's conduct concerning the files?
4. Do you agree with the court's analysis about apparent authority? Do you think that the facts here are substantially different from those in DeVaux?
5. Do you agree that Thompson aided in UPL? Why or why not? What was the UPL? Could Thompson have prevented it?
6. Given the factors to be considered in setting the sanction, as cited in the case, what do you think is an appropriate sanction?