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Thank you firms for your thoughtful and insightful reflections on the subject matter of this padlet.  I can see upon review of your initial comments that we are on the path to great discussions of Ethics & Professional Responsibility topics! ps great photos & images

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Professionalism and ethical behaviour in the workplace is of the utmost importance especially while working in the legal profession. The Law Society of Ontario provide rules and guidelines (The Paralegal Rules of Conduct as well as the Paralegal Professional Conduct Guidelines) set out the standards to which lawyers and paralegals are expected to know, follow and comply with while providing legal services in Ontario.

Some examples of Professionalism and Ethical behaviours are:

-Being honest with your clients, courts/tribunals and your duty to both to act honourably and with integrity
-Being candid and realistic with client expectations, not to exaggerate the strength of their case. Also clearly address weaknesses of cases
-To decline matters that you are not competent to handle
-To act and dress professionally and keep in mind the importance of courtroom etiquette and attire
-To act in good faith and maintain a professional reputation

The recipient(s) of this behaviour could be your clients, your colleagues or the courts/tribunals you are appearing in front of. It is a requirement of the Law Society to follow and comply with the polices and procedures set out in the Rules and Guidelines in order to maintain recommended and required practice procedures and to ensure quality within your practice.

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We believe professional behaviour is following the rules as set out by the Law Society of Ontario. These rules cover various topics that regulate how a legal professional interacts with their clients, the public, as well as one another.

An example of this form of behavior is that clients want and need to be consistently updated on their file and case even if no action has been taken to date. It is especially important to explain the process to clients as best as possible in plain language so they have complete understanding. However, while this communication is key, the legal professionals are restrained by ethical rules that prohibit lying to a client or recommending any illegal action.

It is also important to note that these rules in question are generally only known to those working in the legal field. Any average member of the public would likely rely on entertainment such as Suits or Better Call Saul, where the rules are tossed to the side and legal professionals are seen as aggressive and untrustworthy, to form their opinions on the profession. As statistics show, these opinions are often unfavorable.

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Better Call Saul Cast Better Call Saul Meme Better Call Saul Logo Rhea Seehorn Better Call Saul Kim Wexler Better Call Saul Better Call Saul AMC Saul Goodman Saul Goodman Meme Saul Goodman Prosecutor Breaking Bad Aaron Paul Breaking Bad Spin-Off Better Call Saul Chuck Better Call Saul Billboard Better

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Legal ethics are central to society and in particular the legal system and the professionals within the system. The importance is central because the entire premise of law is based on honesty and a system of rules to guide process and behaviour. Since a very few people are fortunate enough to have the specialized knowledge and training that allows them to navigate the system it is paramount that they do so in a way that ensures the rights of those they are serving. If people within the system were taken advantage of they are unlikely to continue to submit to or respect the authority of the legal system or those who work within it. This would undermine not only the legal system but also society and the economy.

Our Firm believes in providing services that are grounded in a strong code of ethics in all interactions within the walls of the court and outside of the court with clients, other legal professionals and the court itself.

Some clear examples of ethical behaviour we discussed are:

·  A paralegal’s duties owed to their client such as honesty, putting their client’s best interests before their own, ensuring confidentiality is respected and ensuring their matters are within your scope of practice

- A paralegal’s duties to the profession and within practice include to be respectful and conduct themselves in a manner that vigorously defends their client’s rights but does not result in unacceptable behaviours toward other participants. A recent case spoke to this fact.  This quote from Groia v. The Law Society of Upper Canada, 2016 ONCA 471, para 3 (CanLII) illustrates the importance placed on professional and ethical treatment of participants including other legal professionals “ The Law Society’s rules require, as a condition of the privilege of practising law, that lawyers’ conduct be characterized by courtesy, civility and good faith in dealing with the courts and all participants in the justice system, including fellow lawyers.  For advocates, they also affirm counsel’s duty to resolutely and honourably advance the client’s cause, without fear of professional jeopardy.  These twin duties lay at the core of our adversarial system of justice and the advocate’s professional and ethical responsibilities.  They are also a mainstay of public confidence in the administration of justice.”.  The court went on to state how the process of disrespectful behaviour does not allow for the justice system to function in an orderly manner to resolve disputes. The ethical portion of treating clients and professionals respectfully is that bullying and other such tactics often used to some effect in the adversarial system do not necessarily fit with allowing for the facts to be heard and participants to stand on equal ground.

·  Ethical professional behaviour also extends to ensuring that legal professionals work within the law and do not become tied to winning at any cost or entangled in criminal acts or merely unethical acts that undermine the justice system. Examples such as we have heard in the past two semesters of lawyers being involved in money laundering, suppression of evidence, lies in advertisements of services to the public and immigration fraud are some of the more egregious examples of unethical behaviour. But make no mistake even small repeated acts have a great impact on the confidence of the public in legal professionals and justice itself.

In closing ethics are not one act that can accurately be named in any rule or writing; they are only a minimum standard. The saying “rules are made to be broken” itself shows that ethics are not in the rule but the practice repeated of making choice daily to provide services and conduct yourself in a way that is in “good faith” toward your clients, your profession, other legal professionals and the court and its processes.

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- Respect client confidentiality. Do not repeat info that clients have disclosed with others not involved with the file at hand.

- Be respectful and honest with clients and colleagues. Honesty with experience and knowledge in an area of law can greatly help colleagues that work together know strengths and weaknesses and help accommodate them.

- Works in the best interest of their clients. The clients interests should be the goal that paralegals and other legal representatives go for.

- Dress in an appropriate manner.

- Speak in a professional manner.

- Punctual to meetings, conferences, court, etc... . Punctuality is a sign that colleagues and others are serious about the work done.
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In this discussion we focus on Professionalism and Ethnic requirements regarding the Firm and Employed paralegals relationship. In another words, our firm expect employed paralegals to comply with the following issues:

1.Competence: the Paralegals employed by A&N&H LTD are only entitled to represent the firm's clients if they have obtained the paralegal licensing issued by LSUC and have minimum 2 years of practice within the scope of paralegal conducts as regulated by LSUC.

The firm accepts to hire paralegals who are in a process of renewing paralegal licenses at the time the firm signs contract with them. However, the unlicensed and hired paralegals have responsibility to supplement their license no later than the last day of their probation period.

Any misrepresentation of employed paralegal's qualifications is not tolerated and shall result in intermediate termination.

2. Conflict of Interest: the followings circumstances are subject to conflict of interests between the firm and employed paralegals:

Employed paralegals work part-time for other paralegal firms with regardless of their areas of conduct.

An employed paralegal represents a case where the opponent side of the case used to be his/her client. This circumstance may question the paralegal's obligation for solicitor-client privilege.

3. Compliance: employed paralegals shall ensure the firm's policies and procedures are fully complied on daily basis.

Employed paralegals have responsibility to learn and understand the firm's policies and procedures. He/she is expected to raise questions for clarification to any unclear policies or procedures.

Employed paralegals have responsibility to comply with the firm's policies and procedures. Violations due to having no knowledge or accurate understanding of the policies and procedures are not an excuse and shall result in various disciplinary methods. Example: the firm requires employed paralegals to file all new cases in the filing system as well as to enter the case into client database within 3 days from the date of sending retain letter to the client. Paralegals who miss to take this action cannot claim that they do not know or understand this procedure. This is a key procedure that the firm provides to any newly employed paralegal.

Employed paralegals are also expected to report any practice or behavior that does not conform to the firm's policies and procedures. Example: when two paralegals work on the same file, one may find another offer the services that go beyond the firm's policy, he/she shall report this matter to his/her direct supervisor as soon as the offer is made to the client. The sooner the correction is made to the client, the better the misunderstanding and potential conflicts are prevented.

The firm's policies and procedures cover all LSUC requirements for paralegal conducts. Employed paralegals are expected to report any inconsistency or nonconformity between the firm's policies/procedures and LSUC requirements if they encounter any during their practice. Example: the management team has responsibility to update the policies and procedures to ensure its conformity with LSUC changes. If by some reasons such as under staffing or overload work, the team cannot catch up with the new requirements or changes from LSUC, employed paralegals may report or share their findings to the team on timely basis. This action  does not only reflect paralegal's sense of responsibility to the firm, to their own practice in particular, but also to the Law Society and Paralegal profession as a whole.

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Group 7 LLP - Professionalism and Ethics 

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Group 7 LLP - Professionalism and Ethics 

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Professionalism and ethics are two separate components, but the two go hand in hand with each other in many different ways.
When speaking to your client, professionalism and ethics both intertwine with each other. You should always be professional with your client, and in any correspondence with your client. At the same time, it is your ethical duty as a paralegal to inform your client if you believe that have a weak case, or when settling is the better option. For example, if your client wants to bring a small claims court case for $300 against a business partner, but the business partner has offered to settle for $200, you should inform your client, in a professional manor, that it would be in his or her best interest to accept the settlement, as the case itself would cost him more money, and may not result in his favour.
When dealing with the other party, and with the court, it is also you duty to be professional and ethical. You cannot withhold information from the other party, simply because it hurts your case, and at the same time you must be cordial when speaking to the parties inside and outside the courtroom. Even though you are on different sides of the case, you are still professionals, and should address each other as such. Even in situations where the other side has a damning cross examination, and dismantles your case, when inside and outside the court room, you must continue to be professional. Further, if you are emailed, by mistake, the defendants cross examination question, you must destroy and inform the other party as soon as possible, and this is the ethical thing to do.

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RAM Paralegal LLP- Professionalism and Ethics

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RAM Paralegal LLP- Professionalism and Ethics

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A component of professionalism is interacting with all parties involved and other licensees in a civil manner. Despite it being an adversarial process, you must treat opposing counsel with civility and respect. An example of this, would be extending professional courtesy to opposing counsel by reaching out to them to find out their schedules for things such as settlement conference.

Another component of professionalism is fulfilling undertakings. This is demonstrated by not promising things to your client or any other legal professional that you can’t deliver. This includes things such as setting realistic expectations for timelines, and not taking on work that is outside of your areas of competency.

An example of ethical behaviour would be putting the interests of your client first. For example, in circumstances where you are dealing with opposing counsel you have had previous  negative dealings with, it is important to separate your own personal feelings from your dealings with them as to be the best advocate for your client as possible.

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As noted in my previous post...photos may be included but are not required as photos may not necessarily be required to make a point or validate a posting.

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Professor, Ethics & Prof. Resp.

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