NALA Professional and Ethical Responsibility 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A paralegal discovers that a supervising attorney has been billing a client for work the paralegal never performed. What is the paralegal's ethical obligation?
- Ignore it to protect job security
- Report the conduct to appropriate authorities or the attorney's superiors (Correct answer)
- Bill additional hours to balance the discrepancy
- Inform the client directly without telling the attorney
Correct answer: Report the conduct to appropriate authorities or the attorney's superiors
NALA ethics require paralegals to report attorney misconduct that constitutes fraud or dishonesty to appropriate authorities.
Question 2: Under NALA's Code of Ethics, which of the following best describes the concept of 'competence' for a paralegal?
- Passing the CLA/CP exam
- Maintaining legal knowledge, skill, thoroughness, and preparation reasonably necessary for assigned tasks (Correct answer)
- Having a four-year college degree
- Working under an attorney for at least two years
Correct answer: Maintaining legal knowledge, skill, thoroughness, and preparation reasonably necessary for assigned tasks
Competence for paralegals means possessing the knowledge, skill, thoroughness, and preparation required to perform assigned tasks properly.
Question 3: A paralegal working on a personal injury case is approached by a claims adjuster who offers a gift card in exchange for early settlement information. The paralegal should:
- Accept if the gift is under $25
- Decline and report the contact to the supervising attorney (Correct answer)
- Accept and donate the value to charity
- Accept only if the client would not object
Correct answer: Decline and report the contact to the supervising attorney
Accepting gifts tied to confidential case information constitutes a conflict of interest and breach of confidentiality that must be reported to the supervising attorney.
Question 4: Which NALA ethical canon addresses a paralegal's obligation to maintain integrity in professional relationships?
- Canon 1
- Canon 3
- Canon 7 (Correct answer)
- Canon 9
Correct answer: Canon 7
Canon 7 of NALA's Code of Ethics and Professional Responsibility specifically addresses maintaining integrity in all professional relationships.
Question 5: A paralegal's friend asks the paralegal to look up information about another client's pending lawsuit using their firm's case management system. The paralegal should:
- Look up only publicly available docket information
- Refuse, as accessing client files for personal reasons violates confidentiality (Correct answer)
- Help only if the friend is a party to the case
- Access only general case status, not documents
Correct answer: Refuse, as accessing client files for personal reasons violates confidentiality
Accessing client files for personal or unofficial purposes violates attorney-client confidentiality and professional ethics regardless of the information type.
Question 6: When a paralegal signs a letter drafted on behalf of a supervising attorney, the letter must make clear that:
- The paralegal is a licensed professional
- The paralegal's non-attorney status is disclosed (Correct answer)
- The supervising attorney approved every word
- The firm takes no responsibility for the content
Correct answer: The paralegal's non-attorney status is disclosed
NALA requires paralegals to disclose their non-attorney status in all written and oral communications to avoid implying they are attorneys.
Question 7: A paralegal who simultaneously works part-time at two competing law firms must be most concerned about which ethical issue?
- Billing accuracy
- Conflicts of interest and confidentiality breaches (Correct answer)
- Unauthorized practice of law
- Competence
Correct answer: Conflicts of interest and confidentiality breaches
Dual employment at competing firms creates a serious risk of conflicts of interest and inadvertent disclosure of one firm's confidential client information to the other.
NALA Professional and Ethical Responsibility 2
A paralegal discovers that a supervising attorney has been billing a client for work the paralegal never performed.
What is the paralegal's ethical obligation?