Many attorneys have paralegals or legal assistants working with them so they can provide high-quality legal services to their clients, because it can be taxing for an attorney to handle every aspect of every case alone. In New York, paralegals and legal assistants don’t have to have any special license or education. They all work under the condition that they’re being actively supervised by a licensed attorney.
Because paralegals play such important roles in many cases, people may wonder whether their actions can lead to a legal malpractice claim. The best answer to that question is that the paralegal doesn’t have any independent duty of care to clients, so they can’t directly be responsible for legal malpractice claims. They can be indirectly liable if they act in an unethical or negligent manner without being properly supervised by the supervising attorney.
What are the limits to what a paralegal can do in New York?
Paralegals can’t provide any type of legal advice, which means that if a client calls seeking advice, they must direct them to the attorney. The Rules of Professional Conduct (specifically Rule 5.3) make it clear that lawyers are accountable for ensuring that non-lawyer assistants act consistently with the professional obligations of the lawyer.
If a client suffers harm because an attorney failed to properly oversee a paralegal’s work, the client may pursue a malpractice claim against the attorney or firm. For the claim to succeed, the client would need to prove the typical malpractice elements: duty, breach, causation and damages.
Legal malpractice involving a paralegal can be a complex case. It’s critical to have someone on your side who clearly understands the specific laws and rules that govern their conduct.