Attorneys: Is Your Nonlawyer Staff Ethically Supporting you?

Many attorneys rely heavily on their nonlawyer staff to assist with the extensive workload that comes along with running a practice.  It is very easy to begin to lean on competent and experienced staff members to handle significant components of cases, but it is critical that attorneys have a clear understanding of the Bar Rules that address the appropriate roles of nonlawyers.

In today’s episode host Jamie Moore welcomes back Florida Bar Ethics Counsel, Jonathan Grabb, to discuss guidelines for the roles of nonlawyers and the attorneys that supervise them. The Florida Bar Professional Ethics Committee has created the Legal Assistants and Nonlawyer Employees Ethics Informational Packet that addresses proper and improper activities of nonlawyer staff. If your questions or issues are not addressed in this episode, you can contact The Bar’s Ethics Hotline.

Jonathan Grabb graduated cum laude from Florida State University’s College of Law in 2008 and became the Ethics Counsel for The Florida Bar in November 2021, after serving in the Ethics & Advertising Department for 8 years as an Assistant Ethics Counsel. Jonathan has fielded more than 20,000 calls on the ethics hotline, reviewed thousands of lawyer advertisements, and issued dozens of staff opinions. Prior to working at The Florida Bar, Jonathan was a Senior Attorney at the Agency for Persons with Disabilities.

This podcast has been approved by The Florida Bar Continuing Legal Education Department for 1.0 hour of General CLE credit including 1.0 hour of Ethics CLE credit. Course # 6870.

REFERENCED RESOURCES: Rules, Ethics & ProfessionalismLegal Assistants and Nonlawyer Employees – Ethics Informational PacketSubject Index of Ethics OpinionLawyer RegulationABA Model Guidelines for the Utilization of Paralegal Services