MCCORDTEPPER, LITIGATION PARALEGAL 2024, 9780357767337;

Solution and Answer Guide: McCord/Tepper, Litigation Paralegal 2024, 9780357767337; Chapter 1: Welcome to the Law Office: Foundations for Litigation 1 © 2024 Cengage. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.Solutions Manual

MCCORD/TEPPER, LITIGATION PARALEGAL 2024, 9780357767337;

CHAPTER 1: WELCOME TO

THE LAW OFFICE: FOUNDATIONS FOR LITIGATION

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Questions for Study and Review ....................................................................................... 2 Application Assignments .................................................................................................... 5 Case Assignments ............................................................................................................... 8 Ethics Assignment .............................................................................................................. 9 System Folder Assignments ............................................................................................... 9 1 / 4

Solution and Answer Guide: McCord/Tepper, Litigation Paralegal 2024, 9780357767337; Chapter 1: Welcome to the Law Office: Foundations for Litigation

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QUESTIONS FOR STUDY AND REVIEW

• Define paralegal.

Answer: A paralegal assists attorneys in preparing client cases. This includes

assisting in interviews, investigation, document preparation, pre- and post-trial activities, trial and settlement, and any other activities permitted by statute or case law.

• Why is a paralegal valuable to a law firm? Identify significant legal authority on

billing for paralegal time.

Answer: Paralegals can perform a multitude of tasks more economically for

the client. This includes preparing letters, preparing documents, and investigative functions when necessary. Missouri v. Jenkins is the U.S. Supreme Court case that recognized that a paralegal’s time can be billed as a fee and awarded by the court in assessing attorney’s fees.

• Why are timekeeping and deadline control important?

Answer: Timekeeping is critical to billing. Deadline control is key in

assignments, especially those dealing directly with a court.

• What are some ethical concerns regarding timekeeping and billing?

Answer: Paralegals cannot set fees for a client and cannot split fees with an

attorney. The paralegal cannot perform tasks that are considered the unauthorized practice of law.

• What are some of the advantages and pitfalls in using social media in the law

office setting?

Answer: Social media has a myriad of uses and advantages, such as a

networking tool to gain additional client business or even to see or hear what other law firms are doing. Firms are using social media as a way to promote their services and specializations to a target audience. It is an inexpensive way to promote the firm. Keeping up with social media through posting information can be time consuming, but well worth it. It helps law firms understand the needs of the client, see what people are talking about, and check to see what the competition is doing. But social media is not without its drawbacks and restrictions. Always remember that client confidentiality is fundamental to the practice of law. Using social media is no exception. That means don’t engage with clients or potentials clients in discussions about their cases as no one wants to cross any legal or professional ethical lines.

• Define professional ethics in the context of the practice of law.

Answer: Professional ethics, as applied to attorneys, refers to the rules of

conduct that govern the practice of law. 2 / 4

Solution and Answer Guide: McCord/Tepper, Litigation Paralegal 2024, 9780357767337; Chapter 1: Welcome to the Law Office: Foundations for Litigation

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• Why are professional ethics so important to a law firm?

Answer: A breach of ethical standards will reflect badly upon the firm or

employer and may also lead to the disbarment of an attorney. It may cost a paralegal his or her job and subject the paralegal to prosecution for the unauthorized practice of law.

• What are the things a paralegal may not do?

Answer: Paralegals may not perform any of the following functions:

• Provide legal services directly to the public without the supervision of an

attorney. More states and the federal system are permitting paralegals to represent the public in limited controlled settings, such as landlord/tenant matters, immigration, and Social Security cases.

• Give legal advice or counsel a client. Legal advice is independent

professional judgment based on knowledge of the law and given for the benefit of a particular client.

• Represent a client in court or other tribunal or otherwise act as an

advocate for a client unless specifically permitted to do so by law or rule of court. (See previous answer part a for further clarification.)

• Accept or reject cases for the firm.
• Set any fee for representation of a client.
• Split legal fees with an attorney (bonuses and profit-sharing plans not tied

to a specific case are permissible).

• Be a partner with a lawyer if any of the activities of the partnership include

the practice of law [exception: the District of Columbia Ethics Rule 5.4(b)].

The American Bar Association rejected a proposal to relax the prohibition against fee sharing and multidisciplinary practice.

• Solicit cases for a lawyer.
• Perform tasks that are the unauthorized practice of law as defined in the

pertinent state.

• What are the seven criteria that assure a paralegal’s actions will not be or

cause a breach of ethics?

Answer:

• The task must be delegated by an attorney.
• It must be performed under an attorney’s supervision.
• Paralegals must clearly designate their status as a paralegal.
• The lawyer must retain a direct relationship with the client (the attorney

must retain control over the relationship).

• The task must involve information gathering or be ministerial and cannot

involve the rendering of legal advice or judgment (unless the legal advice or judgment is provided by the paralegal directly to the attorney).

• The work must be given final approval or be examined by the attorney. 3 / 4

Solution and Answer Guide: McCord/Tepper, Litigation Paralegal 2024, 9780357767337; Chapter 1: Welcome to the Law Office: Foundations for Litigation

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• The work must not have a separate identity but merge with the attorney’s

final work product.

• What is a conflict of interest and the rationale for the relevant ethical

standards?

Answer: A paralegal should avoid and reveal any conflicts of interest. This

requirement rests on the rationale that citizens must have faith in the legal system to seek the peaceful resolution of their disputes. Because conflicts of interest can dilute an attorney’s allegiance to the client and damage independent professional judgment, they are barred by the Model Rules of Professional Responsibility. A paralegal must also be loyal to the client and avoid such conflicts.

• What is meant by the term professional loyalty as applied to your fellow

workers? The client? The practice of law?

Answer: In professional working relationships, mutual respect and loyalty

between employer and employees is especially important. Publicly criticizing one’s fellow workers or one’s clients, who deserve the utmost courtesy, respect, and a legal professional's every effort to preserve their dignity, is not consistent with professional loyalty. Relationships with clients must always be kept on a professional level. If a relationship becomes too personal, it threatens objectivity, confidentiality, and one’s loyalty to the firm. Professional loyalty to the firm extends to the practice of law, which supersedes loyalty to any specific individual. Attorneys are directed to call attention to the unethical practices of other attorneys, or, in some instances, of the illegal conduct of their own clients to avoid assisting in fraud or crime.

• What are the characteristics of the common components of court systems in

the United States?

Answer: The federal and state court systems have at least two types of courts

in common: the trial court and the appellate court.

• What is jurisdiction? Define the various kinds of jurisdiction: geographical,

personal, general, and so on.Answer: Jurisdiction is the power or authority of a court to hear and decide the questions of law or fact (or both) presented by a lawsuit. Most courts have geographical jurisdiction, meaning that they hear cases that arise within specific geographical boundaries. The court also has personal (in personam) jurisdiction. This means the court must have the power over the particular person named in the lawsuit to enter a judgment against that person. In rem (property) jurisdiction is the authority of the court to attach (seize) property (real estate, jewelry, bank deposits, or other property) within its geographical jurisdiction to resolve claims to the property. Quasi in rem jurisdiction is the authority of a court to seize and use property (within its jurisdiction) of a

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