- ABA releases proposed ethical amendments to its Model Rules
- Amendments provide guidance for commentary on Model Rules 1.1, 5.3 and 5.5
- Guidance focuses on the competence of services provided and supervisory responsibilities
- The Commission is now actively seeking feedback on the proposed amendments
Publishing the most detailed guidance on legal outsourcing (LPO) since 2008, the American Bar Association (ABA) Commission on Ethics 20/20 recently released proposed ethical amendments to its Model Rules.
The proposed draft amendments come after a series of meetings and various working group initiatives dating back to 2009.
The amendments provide guidance for commentary on Model Rules 1.1, 5.3 and 5.5, which deal with the competence of services provided to a client and the responsibilities of managing both lawyer and non-lawyer assistants. Amendments are closely aligned to the reports originally published on the LPO Ethics Resource Center in October this year.
Many industry participants welcomed the announcement of targeted guidance on areas such as supervision, client disclosure and collaboration with attorneys based in outside jurisdictions as opposed to a blunt referendum on the practice of LPO.
A key initiative set forth in the ABA’s recommendations is that when outsourcing legal and legal support services, the outsourcing law firm must ensure that “the other lawyers’ services will contribute to the competent and ethical representation of the client.”
While far from ratification, the recent release provides welcome direction for legal professionals seeking to prepare for upcoming regulatory obligations. While the full implications of the proposed changes is far from clear, the general essence of the guidance appears to avoid sweeping regulatory shifts regarding the practice of LPO.
The Commission is now actively seeking feedback from all interested stakeholders on proposed amendments before further review in the new year.
For the near term, legal professionals and industry participants can engage the Commission and prepare for possible alterations in their outsourcing initiatives.
The Commission pushed back earlier plans to submit its recommendations to the ABA House of Delegates from February 2011 to the current deadline in August 2011.
The ABA Commission on Ethics 20/20 is the body set up by the organization to review the ethical implications of technological advances and globalization in the legal profession. The growing popularity of legal process outsourcing has led to significant discussion by the Commission about potential Model Rule changes.
