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NMRA 20-110

Not legal advice. Verify against official sources before relying on this text in any legal matter.

Rule 20-110 Competency.

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Rule Text

A lawyer is responsible to ensure that a paralegal is competent to perform the work which the lawyer delegates to the paralegal.

Amendment history: Approved, effective September 1, 1981; as amended, effective January 30, 2004.

Plain-English Summary (for reference only — not a substitute for the rule text above)

This summary is not the rule. The rule text controls.

Lawyers who hire paralegals have to make sure those paralegals actually know how to do the work they're given. If a lawyer hands off a task, like drafting documents or researching a legal issue, the lawyer can't just assume the paralegal can handle it. The lawyer needs to check that the paralegal has the right skills and training first.

This matters because the lawyer stays responsible for the work, even if a paralegal does it. If something goes wrong because the paralegal wasn't qualified for the task, the lawyer is the one who answers for it. So this rule protects clients by making sure someone with proper oversight is checking the quality of work behind the scenes, even when a lawyer isn't doing every task personally.

For clients, this means you can expect that anyone working on your case, including support staff, has been properly vetted by the lawyer in charge. You're not just trusting the paralegal directly. You're trusting that the lawyer has confirmed this person can do the job right.

Committee Notes

Committee commentary. — Rule 16-101 NMRA of the Rules of Professional Conduct requires a lawyer to represent a client competently. In order to fulfill this obligation, a lawyer must ensure that a paralegal employed by the lawyer, and for whose work the lawyer is ultimately responsible, is able to competently perform the work assigned by the lawyer. This requires that the lawyer be aware of the abilities of a paralegal and delegate to the assistant only those assignments which are within the assistant's capacity to perform competently.

A lawyer who hires a paralegal is responsible for carefully evaluating the paralegal's education and experience to determine if the assistant can competently perform the tasks which it is contemplated will be assigned. Once a paralegal is in the employ of a lawyer, the lawyer has a continuing obligation to closely supervise the work of the paralegal. A lawyer may train a paralegal to perform increasingly complex assignments under the supervision of the lawyer, and a process of gradually escalating the level of difficulty of the type or types of work assigned to the assistant may be used to raise the skill level of a paralegal. Specialized instruction provided to a paralegal, whether through the personal efforts of the lawyer who supervises the assistant or through other means such as seminars or classes, may be helpful in maintaining and raising the assistant's level of competence, but it remains the responsibility of the individual lawyer to determine the extent of the assistant's skills and to delegate to the assistant accordingly. In addition, a lawyer should explain to the paralegal that the paralegal has a duty to inform the lawyer of any assignment which the assistant regards as being beyond his capability.

← Previous Rule 20-109: Referrals. Next → Rule 20-111: Business associations prohibited.