Why are the freelance lawyers called "Lawclerks"?

LAWCLERK™ - Where Attorneys Go To Hire Freelance Lawyers 

 

LAWCLERK is a revolutionary legal services marketplace created by lawyers for lawyers.  LAWCLERK connects solo practitioners and law firms that need assistance with skilled lawyers that chose to work on a freelance basis. 

We refer to our incredibly talented freelance lawyers as “Lawclerks” because despite being lawyers, they are providing services in a paraprofessional capacity (as permitted by the ABA model rules) under the direct supervision of Attorneys barred and in good standing in their jurisdictions. 

As discussed in our ethics whitepaper (available in the footer), because our freelance lawyers (Lawclerks) work in a paraprofessional capacity for the Attorney, Attorneys can harness the skill and knowledge of freelance lawyers from across the country without running afoul of the restrictions on the unauthorized practice of law.  While the definition of the practice of law is established by law and varies from one jurisdiction to another, the courts and bar associations unanimously agree that the purpose of the prohibition on the unauthorized practice of law is to protect the public from receiving legal services from unqualified persons.1  

Every state other than California has adopted the Model Rules, although some states have modified the Model Rules in their adoption or have not adopted the most recent amendments to the Model Rules.2 Model Rule 5.3, titled “Responsibilities Regarding Nonlawyer,” and Model Rule 5.5, titled “Unauthorized Practice of Law; Multijurisdictional Practice of Law,” are most pertinent to the analysis of what constitutes the unauthorized practice of law.

The Model Rules balance the need for attorneys to utilize paraprofessional services while ensuring that the public is not unknowingly receiving legal advice from unqualified professionals.  The Comments to Model Rules 5.3 and 5.5 provide that:

  • “This Rule [Model Rule 5.5] does not prohibit a lawyer from employing the services of paraprofessionals and delegating functions to them, so long as the lawyer supervises the delegated work and retains responsibility for their work.”3
  • “A lawyer may use nonlawyers outside the firm to assist the lawyer in rendering legal services to the client.  Examples include the retention of an investigative or paraprofessional service, hiring a document management company to create and maintain a database for complex litigation, sending client documents to a third party for printing or scanning, and using an Internet-based service to store client information."4

Consistent with the Model Rules, LAWCLERK balances the need for attorneys to maintain cost-effective legal services while meeting the public’s need to ensure that they are not unknowingly receiving legal advice from unqualified people.  To this end, each attorney utilizing the services of a freelance attorney (we call them “Lawclerks”) through LAWCLERK must execute the following agreement:

I am a duly licensed attorney in good-standing and I agree to fully comply with the following rules regarding the use of Lawclerk services.

1. I shall have sole professional responsibility for the work product of the Lawclerk.

2. I will supervise the Lawclerk’s performance of services on the assigned project to ensure compliance with the applicable Rules of Professional Conduct.

3. I will establish and maintain the relationship with my client.

4. The Lawclerk shall have no contact with my client, including without limitation no email, telephone, skype, web, social media, or in-person contact.

5. The Lawclerk shall not appear in court or any other judicial or administrative body on behalf of my client.

6. I will not ask or otherwise cause the Lawclerk to serve or otherwise disseminate the Lawclerk’s work product or any other documents to anyone other than me.

7. I will not ask or otherwise cause the Lawclerk to sign or file any documents with any court or administrative body.

8. The Lawclerk shall have no contact with opposing counsel, witnesses, or other persons potentially involved in the project for which the Lawclerk has been engaged, including without limitation no email, telephone, skype, web, social media, or in-person contact.

9. If required by my engagement agreement with my client or applicable law, I have obtained my client’s consent to utilize the services of a Lawclerk.

10. I have sole responsibility for determining the fee charged to my client for legal services.  The Lawclerk shall not have any involvement in determining the fee I charge my client for the Lawclerk’s services.

11. All payment for Lawclerk services shall be completed through www.lawclerk.legal.

Additionally, LAWCLERK imposes the following requirements on its users:

The attorney establishes the flat fee price for the project, which is not contingent upon the outcome of the attorney’s case or matter.  The Lawclerk will have no involvement in determining the fees charged by an attorney to his/her clients.

  • The Lawclerk shall hold a Juris Doctorate from an ABA accredited law school or be barred and in good standing in the Lawclerk’s jurisdiction and his/her services shall solely be offered to attorneys (not the public).
  • The attorneys shall be properly admitted and in good standing within their applicable jurisdiction(s).
  • Disbarred or suspended lawyers may not serve as Lawclerks.
  • LAWCLERK will maintain a list of all of the attorney’s clients for which the Lawclerk has been engaged through LAWCLERK and will remove from the available list of Lawclerks any Lawclerk that has a conflict as a result of prior work performed through LAWCLERK.
  • For each project in which a Lawclerk is engaged by an attorney, the Lawclerk shall: (i) complete a conflict check and review the applicable state’s conflict laws and affirm that he or she does not have any conflict and may complete the project; and (ii) execute a confidentiality and non-disclosure agreement.
  • LAWCLERK does not permit attorneys from Indiana to engage Lawclerks because of Indiana’s unique guidelines to its rules regarding contract paraprofessionals.
  • LAWCLERK thereby requires that the attorney agree to remain solely responsible for the attorney-client relationship and the legal advice provided by the attorney to his/her client.  Thus, while the attorney may obtain a legal memorandum, a draft pleading, or other legal services from a Lawclerk, the Lawclerk will have no direct contact with the attorney’s client, the Lawclerk will be supervised by the attorney, and the attorney will retain sole responsibility for the Lawclerk’s work product and the attorney’s ultimate use of such work product.

LAWCLERK Complies with Model Rules 5.3 and 5.5

LAWCLERK complies with the requirements of Model Rules 5.3 and 5.5.  Model Rule 5.3 is titled “Responsibilities Regarding Nonlawyers Assistance” and provides:

With respect to a nonlawyer employed or retained by or associated with a lawyer:

(a) a partner, and a lawyer who individually or together with other lawyers possesses comparable managerial authority in a law firm shall make reasonable efforts to ensure that the firm has in effect measures giving reasonable assurance that the person’s conduct is compatible with the professional obligations of the lawyer;

(b) a lawyer having direct supervisory authority over the nonlawyer shall make reasonable efforts to ensure that the person’s conduct is compatible with the professional obligations of the lawyer; and

(c) a lawyer shall be responsible for conduct of such a person that would be a violation of the Rules of Professional Conduct if engaged in by a lawyer if:

(1) the lawyer orders or, with the knowledge of the specific conduct, ratifies the conduct involved; or

(2) the lawyer is a partner or has comparable managerial authority in the law firm in which the person is employed, or has direct supervisory authority over the person, and knows of the conduct at a time when its consequences can be avoided or mitigated but fails to take reasonable remedial action.

Supervision designed to ensure that nonlawyers do not provide legal advice or otherwise violate the Rules of Professional Conduct is the key to Model Rule 5.3.  By precluding any contact with an attorney’s clients, opposing counsel, witnesses, or any other party to the project for which the Lawclerk has been engaged, LAWCLERK eliminates the greatest concern addressed by Model Rule 5.3.  LAWCLERK also requires, as more fully set forth above, conflict checks, an acknowledgment that the Lawclerk has reviewed and will comply with the applicable state’s Rules of Professional Conduct, an agreement by the attorney to supervise the Lawclerk, and an acknowledgement by the attorney that s/he is solely responsible for the Lawclerk’s work product.  These restrictions and requirements are designed to satisfy not only the actual text of Model Rule 5.3, but the policy behind it. 

Comment 3 to Model Rule 5.3 under the heading: “Nonlawyers Outside the Firm” expressly addresses the engagement of nonlawyers outside the firm and provides as follows:

A lawyer may use nonlawyers outside the firm to assist the lawyer in rendering legal services to the client.  Examples include the retention of an investigative or paraprofessional service, hiring a document management company to create and maintain a database for complex litigation, sending client documents to a third party for printing or scanning, and using an Internet-based service to store client information.  When using such services outside the firm, a lawyer must make reasonable efforts to ensure that the services are provided in a manner that is compatible with the lawyer’s professional obligations.  The extent of this obligation will depend upon the circumstances, including the education, experience and reputation of the nonlawyer; the nature of the services involved; the terms of any arrangements concerning the protection of client information; and the legal and ethical environments of the jurisdictions in which the services will be performed, particularly with regard to confidentiality.  See also Rules 1.1 (competence), 1.2 (allocation of authority), 1.4 (communication with client), 1.6 (confidentiality), 5.4(a) (professional independence of the lawyer), and 5.5(a) (unauthorized practice of law).  When retaining or directing a nonlawyer outside the firm, a lawyer should communicate directions appropriate under the circumstances to give reasonable assurance that the nonlawyer’s conduct is compatible with the professional obligations of the lawyer.

The addition of Comment 5.3(3) and the change from “nonlawyer assistants” to “nonlawyer assistance” in 2012 served to highlight that attorneys have an obligation to make reasonable efforts to ensure that nonlawyers that assist them act in a manner that is consistent with the attorneys’ professional obligations, whether they are employed or contractual paralegals, assistants within a law firm, or others engaged from outside the firm.5

Model Rule 5.5 is titled “Unauthorized Practice of Law; Multijurisdictional Practice of Law” and provides in relevant part:

(a) A lawyer shall not practice law in a jurisdiction in violation of the regulation of the legal profession in that jurisdiction, or assist another in doing so.

(b) A lawyer who is not admitted to practice in this jurisdiction shall not:

(1) except as authorized by these Rules or other law, establish an office or other systematic and continuous presence in this jurisdiction for the practice of law; or 

(2) hold out to the public or otherwise represent that the lawyer is admitted to practice law in this jurisdiction.

Comment 2 to Model Rule 5.5 expounds as follows:

The definition of the practice of law is established by law and varies from one jurisdiction to another.  Whatever the definition, limiting the practice of law to members of the bar protects the public against rendition of legal services by unqualified persons.  This Rule does not prohibit a lawyer from employing the services of paraprofessionals and delegating functions to them, so long as the lawyer supervises the delegated work and retains responsibility for their work. See Rule 5.3.

Similar to the analysis under Model Rule 5.3, as the attorney has sole responsibility for the Lawclerk’s work product and the Lawclerk is precluded from having any contact with an attorney’s clients, opposing counsel, witnesses, or any other party to the project for which the Lawclerk has been engaged, the Lawclerk is precluded from providing legal advice to an attorney’s client, thereby satisfying both the requirements imposed in Model Rule 5.3, as well as the policy behind the rule.  Thus, by using LAWCLERK, an attorney can benefit from the skill and written work of a +20-year attorney from another state without running afoul of the prohibition on the unauthorized practice of law.

Organizational Guidelines for the Use of Paraprofessionals Exemplify that LAWCLERK Does Not Engage in the Unauthorized Practice of Law

Beyond the Model Rules, the services provided by Lawclerks to attorneys are consistent with the parameters set forth in the Second Edition of the American Jurisprudence addressing the services that may be provided by a law clerk:

The functions of an unlicensed law clerk should be limited to work of a preparatory nature, such as research, investigation of details, assemblage of data, and like work that will enable the attorney/employer to carry a given matter to a conclusion through his or her own examination, approval, or additional effort; the activities of a law clerk do not constitute the practice of law so long as they are thus limited.  [footnote omitted]  On the other hand, an unlicensed law clerk who engages in activities requiring legal knowledge or training, such as handling probate matters, examination of abstract titles, and preparation of wills, leases, mortgages, bills of sales, or contracts, without supervision from his or her employer, thereby engages in the unauthorized practice of law.6

Further, while paralegals and legal assistants may not serve as Lawclerks, the guidelines, rules, and case law analyzing the services that may be provided by legal assistants and paralegals is nonetheless instructive as to what services may be employed by a paraprofessional without engaging in the unauthorized practice of law.  For instance, the National Association of Legal Assistants (NALA) has formulated its Code of Ethics and Professional Responsibility (the “NALA Code”), as well as Model Standards and Guidelines for Utilization of Paralegals (the “NALA Guidelines”) that its members must follow to remain a member in good stating with the organization.7   Most applicable here, the NALA Guidelines, citing to Model Rule 5.3, provide that “a paralegal is allowed to perform any task which is properly delegated and supervised by a lawyer, as long as the lawyer is ultimately responsible to the client and assumes complete professional responsibility for the work product."8

The NALA Code further instructs that the attorney and not the paralegal must form and maintain the direct relationship with the client and that the paralegal is prohibited from: (i) engaging in, encouraging, or contributing to any act that could constitute the practice of law; (ii) establishing attorney-client relationships, setting fees, giving legal opinions or advice, or representing a client before a court or agency unless specifically authorized by that court or agency; and (iii) engaging in conduct or taking any action that would assist or involve the lawyer in a violation of professional ethics or giving the appearance of impropriety.9  However, such restrictions do not alter the requirement that a paralegal must use discretion and professional judgment commensurate with his knowledge and experience, but must not render independent legal judgment in place of a lawyer; rather, any legal opinion may only be rendered to the attorney.10

The ABA Standing Committee on Paralegals has additionally prepared its Model Guidelines for the Utilization of Legal Assistant Services (the “ABA Guidelines”).  While the ABA Guidelines refer to paralegals, the term is intended to include legal assistants.11  ABA Guideline No. 2 states that “[p]rovided the lawyer maintains responsibility for the work product, a lawyer may delegate to a paralegal any task normally performed by the lawyer” unless there is a statute, court rule, administrative rule or regulation, controlling authority, the applicable rule of professional conduct of the jurisdiction in which the attorney practices, or the Guidelines that expressly precludes the attorney from delegating the specific task to a nonlawyer.12  The ABA Guidelines then identify three responsibilities that may not be delegated to a paralegal: (i) responsibility for establishing a lawyer-client relationship; (ii) responsibility for establishing the amount of a fee to be charged for a legal service; and (iii) responsibility for a legal opinion rendered to a client.13  Conversely, the preparation of factual investigation and research, legal research, and the preparation of legal documents are identified as tasks that may be delegated to paralegals subject to appropriate attorney supervision.14

Consistent with the foregoing legal authorities and guidelines, LAWCLERK requires the Attorney to supervise the Lawclerk and to maintain responsibility for the Lawclerk’s work product.  However, LAWCLERK is far more restrictive than the foregoing guidelines for paralegals, law clerks, and legal assistants and more protective of the public as it precludes Lawclerks from engaging in any contact with clients, opposing counsel, witnesses, or any other party to the project for which the Lawclerk has been engaged.  Thus, by using LAWCLERK, you can take advantage of LAWCLERK’s nationwide network of skilled freelance lawyers and grow and improve your practice while being compliant with the prohibition on the unauthorized practice of law.

. . . . . . . . . . . 

1. See Model Rules Comment 5.5(2).

2. The date of adoption can be found at http://americanbar.org/groups/professional_responsibility/publications/model_rules_of_professional_conduct/alpha_list_state_adopting_model_rules.html. 

3. See Model Rules Comment 5.5(2).

4. See Model Rules Comment 5.3(3).

5. See ABA Model Guidelines for the Utilization of Paralegal Services, n. 3, https://apps.americanbar.org/legalservices/paralegals/downloads/modelguidelines.pdf. 

6. 7 Am. Jur. 2d Attorneys at Law § 130 (emphasis added).

7. NALA Code, available at https://www.nala.org/sites/default/files/codeofethics.pdf; see also NULA Guidelines, available at https://www.nala.org/sites/default/files/modelstandards.pdf.

8. NALA Guideline No. 2; NALA Code Canon 2.

9. See NALA Code Canons 2 and 3; NALA Guidelines 2 and 3.

10. See NALA Code Canon 4; see also 122 Am. Jur. Proof of Facts 3d § 279.

11. See ABA Guidelines, at Preamble and n. 1, available at https://apps.americanbar.org/legalservices/paralegals/downloads/modelguidelines.pdf.

12. See id. at Guideline No. 2 (emphasis added).

13. See id. at Guideline No. 3.

14. See id. at Comment to Guideline No. 2.

No
Yes