Please answer the question and explain Question 1. A lawyer hired a paralegal to prepare documents. They
Question:
Please answer the question and explain
Question 1.
A lawyer hired a paralegal to prepare documents. They had worked together for three years, and the lawyer has carefully reviewed all the paralegal's work before submitting it to a client or the court. The lawyer recently left the paralegal a client's document with specific written instructions to file it in Court A. The paralegal misread the instructions and filed the document in Court B instead. Court B had no jurisdiction to review the documents, and the statute of limitation expired before the lawyer discovered the misfiling. Court A refused to allow the attorney to file the client's document.
Is the lawyer subject to discipline?
A. Yes, because the resulting failure to file by the deadline is cause for discipline and makes him subject to liability for malpractice.
B. Yes, because his failure to recheck immediately after the filing is cause for discipline even though it does not subject him to malpractice liability.
C. No, because he did not fail to supervise the paralegal. However, he may be subject to liability for malpractice.
D. No, because his good faith and adequate supervision of paralegal protects him from both discipline and malpractice liability.
Question 2.
A solo practitioner concentrates her practice on wills, real estate, and debt collection. A large company hires her to collect its delinquent receivables. It has received complaints in the past about the aggressive practices of debt collection agencies it has hired and wants its debt collectors to have legal knowledge about proper debt collection practices.
The solo practitioner has an experienced paralegal on staff. In order to ease her workload, but also to make her firm's services cost effective for herself and for the client, she delegates much of the debt collection responsibilities to her paralegal. She approved a series of letters the paralegal drafted to be set out on firm stationary and over her signature. The first letter asked that the money owned be paid within 30 days of the date of the letter and directs the debtor to call the paralegal with any problems. If a debtor fails to submit payment within the 30 days, the paralegal may, at his discretion, send a second letter over the attorney's name, telling the debtor that the firm will sue, unless the debt is satisfied within one week or the debtor calls to make firm payment arrangements. If the second letter does not yield the desired results, the paralegal may prepare legal documents to initiate a lawsuit. The solo practitioner reviews all such documents and goes over the case file with the paralegal before the documents are filed with the court.
Is this arrangement proper under the Model Rules?
A. Yes, because a lawyer should charge reasonable fees and provide legal services in an efficient manner for the benefit of the client.
B. Yes, because a lawyer may delegate legal duties to non-lawyer as long as the lawyer supervises the non-lawyer and retains responsibility for the work.
C. No, because a lawyer cannot allow a non-lawyer to assist in the collection of debts where the lawyer was hired specifically for legal knowledge concerning debt-collection practices.
D. No, because a lawyer cannot assist a non-lawyer in the unauthorized practice of law
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