Broadcast News
Ned Searight v. State of New Jersey, 412 F. Supp. 413 (D.N.H. 1976)
Ned Searight claimed that while in custody, he was taken to the Eye,
Ear and Speech Clinic, where the State of New Jersey unlawfully injected
him in the left eye with a radium electric beam, and that someone now
talks to him on the inside of his brain. He sought $12 million in
damages. The court considered whether the facts as alleged, if assumed
to be true, could establish a cause of action against the state.
It found they did not. Assuming the allegations to be true, the court
found that "they show a case of presumably unlicensed radio
communication," which was in the sole jurisdiction of the
Federal Communications Commission. Furthermore, the court noted, the
plaintiff could have blocked the broadcast to the antenna in his brain
simply by grounding it, suggesting that he "might have pinned to
the back of a trouser leg a short chain of paper clips so that the end
would touch the ground and prevent
Ellen Lockwood, CLA—Ethics
Chair
Canon 2 of the Code of Ethics and Professional Responsibility of the
Legal Assistants Division is as follows:
A legal assistant shall not perform any of the duties that
attorneys only may perform or do things which attorneys themselves may
not do.
Although this encompasses many activities, it also includes the
prohibition of legal assistants soliciting clients for attorneys.
Rule 7.03 of the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct
provides the guidelines for lawyers to solicit clients, including the
prohibitions of contacting prospective clients regarding "a
matter arising out of a particular occurrence or event" and of
paying or giving anything of value to a non-lawyer for soliciting or
referring prospective clients (there are special rules for lawyer
referral services).
Most legal assistants know that we cannot solicit clients for the
attorneys with whom we work specifically because it is prohibited by the
rules referenced above. However, it may be unclear how far this
prohibition extends.
When people find out we work in the legal field, we are often asked
questions. Of course, we all know we cannot give legal advice, but we
are often asked if we know an attorney who can help them. In these
situations, you should be careful about referring someone to a specific
attorney. If you refer someone to an attorney you do not work with,
there is probably no problem unless that attorney thanks you by giving
you something of value. However, referring someone to an attorney with
whom you work can be more complicated. Even if your attorney or firm
doesn’t reward you for the referral, you could be benefitting simply
by having the work brought into the firm, perhaps even providing work
for you. Does that constitute rewarding you for a referral?
I work in intellectual property law and people often ask me about
what do to about their inventions. When I tell them that I cannot give
legal advice, but that a patent attorney can answer their questions, I
do not provide the names of the attorneys with whom I work unless I am
asked. I do not carry their business cards and do not hand out mine
unless asked. Since I do not work for the only patent attorneys in town,
I don’t want to appear to be soliciting clients for them. Friends have
referred their friends to me who have intellectual property issues, and
I have had the attorneys I work with call them back. This has resulted
in several new clients for my attorneys. However, since I did not ask or
even encourage my friends to have their friends contact me, I do not
think I have given even an appearance of soliciting clients.
I participate in an email forum for legal assistants and on occasion,
members of the forum have asked if other members work for referrals to
attorneys who practice particular areas of law, including attorneys who
work with the forum members. Again, this practice is fine since the
people providing the referrals are not soliciting clients, just
responding to requests from others.
Since we work in the legal field, people will always contact us
requesting referrals to attorneys, even requesting referrals to the
attorneys with whom we work. As long as you are not encouraging these
referral requests, and as long as your attorneys and firm are not
rewarding you for referrals, you should be well on the ethical side of
solicitation of clients.
web WIZARDS
Court Rules, Forms & Dockets Now Available from LLRX.com http://www.llrx.com/courtrules
Finding court rules, forms & dockets on the Web is no longer a
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Linda J. Wolf, SIDLEY & AUSTIN, Dallas, Texas
An excellent search engine is Google! at www.google.com.
If you "Add Google Buttons" to your browser, you have
an terrific keyword search engine at your fingertips. It’s fast,
friendly and accurate.
A great site for prospective and practicing paralegals is the
American Association for Paralegal Education (AAfPE), at www.aafpe.org.
This site provides up to date information about paralegal education and
programs nationwide.
Joni Wallach, Paralegal, Attorney Assistant Program
Coordinator,
Sonoma State University
