A lawyer should take reasonable measures to prevent conflicts of interest resulting from a paralegal's other employment or interests

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    Model Rule 5.3(a), Comment 2.

▪NFPA and NALA ethical rules require paralegals to maintain client confidences and

requirethat paralegals be aware of legal rules governing professional responsibility.

T NFPA G EC        

information provided by the client or acquired from other sources before, during, and after

      F NFPA G EC  

paralegal to be aware of and abide by all legal authority governing confidential information

in the jurisdiction in which the paralegal practices and prohibits an y use of confidential

information to the disadvantage of a client.

L NALA E C    A paralegal must protect the confidenc es of the

client and must not violate any rule or statute now in effect or hereafter enacted

controllin           

Likewise, NALA Guidelines state that paralegals should preserve the confidences and

            

these guidelines in order to avoid any action which would involve the attorney in a violation

of that code, or give the appearance of professional impropriety. NALA Guideline 1 and

Comment.

GUIDELINE 7: A lawyer should take reasonable measures to prevent conflicts of

        interests.

COMMENT

▪Lawyers must ensure that paralegals are instructed to disclose an interest that could

create an apparent or actual conflict of interest.

Loyalty and inde          

client. Model Rule 1.7, comment 1. The independent judgment of a lawyer should be

exercised solely for the benefit of his client and free from all compromising influences and

loyalt M C EC  M ‘      

responsibility to prevent conflicts of interest and potential conflicts of interest. Model Rule

5.3 requires lawyers with direct supervisory authority over a paralegal and partners/law yers

with managerial authority within a law firm to make reasonable efforts to ensure that th e

conduct of the paralegals they employ is compatible with their own professional

obligations, including the obligation to prevent conflicts of interest. Therefore , paralegals

should be instructed to inform the supervising lawyer and the management of the firm of

any interest that could result in a conflict of interest or even give the appearance of a

 T           

employment because there are instances where paralegals are employed by more than one

      T        

include personal relationships as well as instances where the paralegal may have a financial

interest (i.e., as a stockholder, trust beneficiary, or trustee, etc.) that would conflict with the

clients in the matter in which the lawyer has been employed.