You are to write
a paper using the Unethical Paralegal Information provided below. You
will apply the knowledge you have gained about the Tennessee Rules of
Professional Conduct, the ethical codes governing paralegals from the
various paralegal organizations and the case law you have studies to
the information below. Using the IRAC method (Issue, Rules of Law,
Analysis, and Conclusion), draft a paper with the following:
(1) ISSUE:
Identify the ethical issue(s) that has/have arisen,
(2) RULE:
state the rules that govern this or these ethical issue(s),
(3) ANALYSIS:
state why this ethical issue is or is not a violation of the
rules, and
(4) CONCLUSION:
decide what a court may do with respect to this particular
issue(s).
The Unethical Paralegal
Information
Kristen Williams
has just started her new job working for Harrison and West Attorney’s
at Law. Before coming to this law firm, Kristen worked for their
rival competitor Jones, Madison, and Carthwright, PLLC. One of the
reasons she was hired at Harrison and West was for her extensive
knowledge on the tort action between Harper Pharmaceuticals and the
ten (10) plaintiffs’ being represented by Harrison and West.
Kristen had sat in on all the interviews that Michael Jones conducted
with the CEO, CFO, and Product Development mangers for Harper
Pharmaceuticals and knew the business inside and out. She would be
an excellent fit in her new role as head paralegal for Tamera
Harrison who was representing the defendants.
During her first
week at the office, Kristen was learning the ins and outs of the
business at Harrison and West. She was even trusted to start
assisting in the regular billing of clients. The billing system
used, allowed Kristen and the other paralegals to bill for time they
spent working on client files in 30 minute increments and even
allowed Kristen to alter time, to add to her bonuses in the future.
Bonuses were a
perk that Kristen had not previously been offered in her prior
employment. When she joined Harrison and West, she was assured that
she would receive at least 2% of all the attorney negotiated
settlements and 5% of any large class action lawsuits she helped to
decide. In addition, she would be paid a set rate of $25/per
billable hour and the more hours she billed the more money she would
make. She often found that in one week she could bill up to 80 hours.
Kristen was also
quickly making friends with the other paralegals. Routinely she
would go out to lunch with all the paralegals and they would discuss
the large cases they were working on. In fact, everyone respected
these paralegals so much that just the other day another restaurant
patron heard the name of one of the firm’s largest cases and
stopped to ask them more about the case. Kristen shared everything
that she knew but told the patron to keep quiet about the case as it
was confidential. Kristen felt certain the patron would not share,
after all she looked trustworthy enough.
At these lunches
Kristen learned that a paralegal at another competitive firm wanted
to go out for drinks. He was certainly cute, and she was willing to
be set up. By the end of her first week, Kristen and this paralegal
had their first date planned.
After getting
home from their date, Kristen was surprised to see her neighbor,
Kelly at her door. Kelly stated she just had to speak with Kristen,
she needed advice right away as her brother had just been arrested.
Kelly knew Kristen was familiar with criminal law and Kristen was
only too willing to help point Kelly in the right direction and tell
her what would likely happen because of this arrest.
On Monday,
Kristen realized she had not filed the deposition transcript on the
Carrington case that was due Friday. She quickly filed it with the
court and billed the file for her time. She then updated her
personal Facebook page reminding her friends and family to give her a
call if they ever needed legal advice after all, she was cheaper than
a lawyer and had just as much experience too. She just knew this
second week at work would be fantastic.