Posted: December 14, 2018
Rules of Professional Conduct – Comment Period Closed January 27, 2019
Following the recent enactment of rules authorizing licensed paralegal practitioners, the Rules of Professional Conduct have been amended to address interactions between lawyers and licensed legal practitioners. “Legal professional” is now the umbrella term for lawyers and licensed paralegal practitioners.
RPC01.00. Terminology.
RPC01.07. Conflict of Interest: Current Clients.
RPC01.10. Imputation of Conflicts of Interest: General Rule.
RPC01.11. Special Conflicts of Interest for Former and Current Government Employees.
RPC01.12. Former Judge, Arbitrator, Mediator or Other Third-Party Neutral.
RPC01.18. Duties to Prospective Client.
RPC02.04. Lawyer Serving as Third-Party Neutral.
RPC03.03. Candor toward the Tribunal.
RPC03.05. Impartiality and Decorum of the Tribunal.
RPC04.02. Communication with Persons Represented by Counsel.
RPC05.01. Responsibilities of Partners, Managers, and Supervisory Lawyers.
RPC08.03. Reporting Professional Misconduct.
Are the new licensed legal professionals not allowed to participate in pro bono? I was surprised to see that the conflict rules seem to be updated to apply to them as “legal professionals” but that they weren’t added to the conflict exceptions for non-profit and court-annexed programs in RPC6.5. I believe a change proposal to those exceptions has been forwarded to the Advisory Committee from the Bar Commission. Changing the language in that proposal from “lawyer” to “legal professional” would address the issue if it was merely an oversight.