The proposed Practice Management Principles reinforce the ethical guidance in the Rules of Professional Conduct and the Paralegal Rules and Guidelines. In that sense, this initiative builds on the existing regulatory framework.
As noted in the Call for Input paper, there is increasing recognition of the importance of practice environment in determining an individual’s professional conduct. A firm generally sets the overall practice standards for those within the firm. Firms often develop their own cultures, distinct from the culture of individual lawyers and paralegals in the firm. Firm policies and practices in areas such as the management of trust accounts, marketing and advertising, and service standards, are all currently the individual responsibility of all the licensees in a firm.
However, the reality is that these practices are the responsibility of the firm to develop and the practitioner may be required to follow them. This means that, in effect, some of the responsibility for common firm practices is a matter for the firm directly. As such, it seems appropriate, and likely more efficient to require the firm to manage and be accountable for these responsibilities.
However, while the focus of a new proactive approach would be on the entity, or practice, itself, lawyers and paralegals would continue to be subject to Rules of Professional Conduct or Paralegal Rules and Guidelines. In that sense, lawyers and paralegals would continue to have individual professional responsibilities.