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NMRA 20-112

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

Rule 20-112 Accountability.

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Rule Text

The paralegal is directly accountable to the lawyer. The lawyer maintains ultimate responsibility for and has an ongoing duty to actively supervise the paralegal's work performance, conduct and product.

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.

A lawyer who uses a paralegal has to keep an eye on that paralegal's work at all times. The paralegal answers to the lawyer, but the lawyer is the one who is on the hook if something goes wrong. This means the lawyer can't just hand off a task and forget about it.

The lawyer needs to actively check the paralegal's work, how the paralegal acts, and what the paralegal produces. This isn't a one-time check at the start. It's an ongoing job that continues for as long as the paralegal is working on a case or task.

For clients, this means you can trust that even when a paralegal is helping with your case, a licensed lawyer is still watching over the work and taking responsibility for it. The lawyer can't blame mistakes on the paralegal or claim they didn't know what was happening.

Committee Notes

Committee commentary. — A paralegal's duty is to inform the responsible lawyer of all significant actions and services performed in the course of the paralegal's employment. Only the lawyer can perform professional legal services; only to the extent that the lawyer is fully informed of the actions of his or her paralegals can the lawyer maintain ultimate responsibility for those actions. Finally, only by thorough supervision of the paralegal can the lawyer ensure that the paralegal is neither engaging in the unauthorized practice of law nor involving the lawyer in any violation of the lawyer's professional responsibilities.

Rule 16-503 NMRA of the Rules of Professional Conduct states that "a lawyer having direct supervisory authority over the nonlawyer [assistant] shall make reasonable efforts to ensure that the person's conduct is compatible with the professional obligations of the lawyer".

← Previous Rule 20-111: Business associations prohibited. Next → Rule 20-113: Business stationery and cards.