I think a paralegal at a law firm is passing himself off as a lawyer. Do I have to report it, and who is responsible for supervising him?

Plain-English summary

The inquiring attorney believed that a paralegal assistant employed by a law firm had been holding himself or herself out as an attorney. The attorney asked what the Rules of Professional Conduct required in response.

The panel identified Rule 8.3 ("Reporting Professional Misconduct"), under which a lawyer who knows that another lawyer has committed a violation raising a substantial question about that lawyer's honesty, trustworthiness, or fitness must inform the appropriate professional authority. It also pointed to Rule 5.5 ("Unauthorized Practice of Law"), which bars a lawyer from assisting a non-member of the bar in the unauthorized practice of law, and to Rules 5.1 and 5.3, which address a firm's obligations to supervise lawyers and nonlawyer assistants. The panel emphasized that the Rules require lawyers to supervise the nonlawyers in their employ.

Applying these rules, the panel advised that if the inquiring attorney believed the firm's partners' conduct rose to a Rule 8.3 violation, the attorney was obligated to report that conduct to the appropriate authorities. As for the paralegal, the panel explained that the nonlawyer's activities are controlled by the statute governing the unauthorized practice of law, an area of substantive law on which the panel declined to opine.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 1995, after the Rhode Island Supreme Court adopted the Model Rules of Professional Conduct effective November 15, 1988, and it applies Rules 8.3, 5.5, 5.1, and 5.3 as originally adopted. The Rhode Island Supreme Court later revised the Rules of Professional Conduct in 2007 as part of the nationwide Ethics 2000 process. Subsequent rule amendments or later opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current guidance. Verify against current rules before relying on any specific rule mentioned here.

Common questions

Q: Did the attorney have to report the paralegal?

A: The opinion did not frame the duty that way. Rule 8.3 concerns reporting lawyer misconduct; the paralegal's holding out was unauthorized practice governed by statute, which the panel declined to address.

Q: When would a reporting duty arise here?

A: The opinion advised that if the firm's supervising lawyers' conduct rose to a Rule 8.3 violation, the inquiring attorney was obligated to report those lawyers to the appropriate authorities.

Q: Whose job was it to supervise the paralegal?

A: The opinion pointed to Rules 5.1 and 5.3, noting the Rules require lawyers to supervise the nonlawyers in their employ, so the firm's lawyers bore that responsibility.

Background and rules framework

The opinion applied Rhode Island Rules of Professional Conduct 8.3 (Model Rule 8.3), 5.5 (Model Rule 5.5), 5.1 (Model Rule 5.1), and 5.3 (Model Rule 5.3). Rule 8.3 sets the duty to report another lawyer's misconduct that raises a substantial question of honesty, trustworthiness, or fitness. Rule 5.5 bars assisting a nonlawyer's unauthorized practice. Rules 5.1 and 5.3 place supervisory duties on the firm's lawyers over their lawyers and nonlawyer assistants. The panel drew a boundary at the unauthorized-practice statute, treating the paralegal's own conduct as substantive law outside its interpretive role.

Citations and references

Rules of Professional Conduct:

• Model Rule 8.3 / RI RPC 8.3 (reporting professional misconduct)
• Model Rule 5.5 / RI RPC 5.5 (unauthorized practice of law; assisting a nonlawyer)
• Model Rule 5.1 / RI RPC 5.1 (responsibilities of supervisory lawyers)
• Model Rule 5.3 / RI RPC 5.3 (responsibilities regarding nonlawyer assistants)

See also

• RI EAP Op. 95-10: Reporting another lawyer's admitted misappropriation of client funds
• RI EAP Op. 97-22: Duty to report trust-account misuse
• RI EAP Op. 90-34: Lawyer principal in a temporary-lawyer placement agency; UPL and "Esquire" designation

Source

• Landing page: https://www.courts.ri.gov/attorney-resources/Pages/Ethics-Advisory-Panel-default.aspx
• Original PDF: https://www.courts.ri.gov/Opinions/EAP%2095-09.pdf

Original opinion text

Best-effort transcription from a scanned PDF. Minor errors may remain; the linked PDF is authoritative.

FINAL

ETHICS ADVISORY PANEL
OPINION # 95-9, REQUEST # 567
Issued March 23, 1995

The inquiring attorney believes that a paralegal assistant employed by a law firm has been holding him/herself out as an attorney.

Rule 8.3 entitled "Reporting Professional Misconduct" addresses the inquiring attorney's responsibility in this matter. That Rule states:

(a) A lawyer having knowledge that another lawyer has committed a violation of the Rules of Professional Conduct that raises a substantial question as to that lawyer's honesty, trustworthiness or fitness as a lawyer in other respects, shall inform the appropriate professional authority.

Equally applicable to this inquiry is Rule 5.5 entitled "Unauthorized Practice of Law." The Rule states that:

(a) A lawyer shall not practice law in a jurisdiction where doing so violates the regulations of the legal profession in that jurisdiction; or

(b) assist a person who is not a member of the bar in the performance of activity that constitutes the unauthorized practice of law.

Furthermore, Rule 5.1 entitled "Responsibilities of a Partner or Supervisory Lawyer" and Rule 5.3 "Responsibilities Regarding Nonlawyer Assistants" address the law firm's obligations in this matter.

The Rules of Professional Conduct proscribe ethical conduct to which attorneys are to abide. The Rules require lawyers to supervise nonlawyers in their employ. See, Rules 5.1, 5.3, 5.5. If the inquiring attorney believes that the law firm's partners' conduct rises to a Rule 8.3 violation, then he/she is obligated to report such conduct to the appropriate authorities.

The nonlawyer's activities are controlled by the statute governing Unauthorized Practice of Law, which is an area of substantive law as to which the Panel declines to opine.