Bart is a paralegal at a large law firm with offices in several cities in the United States. Bart works with Jen, a partner who is handling a case for a corporation that manufactures equipment for the aviation industry. The corporation has been sued by a subcontractor, and the suit relates to trade secret technology. As a result, the court entered a protective order to prevent public disclosure of the trade secret information. Bart and Jen, however, are secret admirers of Julian Assange and WikiLeaks. Without telling Jen, Bart copied all of the documents in the discovery database to a USB memory stick and delivered the stick to WikiLeaks. WikiLeaks then published the documents on its website. Will Jen be subject to discipline for Bart's actions?

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

No, unless Jen authorized or ratified the disclosure or knew of Bart's intended actions at a time when the consequences could have been prevented. A supervising attorney will be responsible for the conduct of a non-attorney employee if (1) the non-attorney's conduct would violate the Model Rules of Professional Conduct if engaged in by an attorney, and (2) the lawyer ratified the conduct, or has supervisory authority over the non-attorney and "knows of the conduct at a time when its consequences can be avoided or mitigated but fails to take reasonable remedial action." Model Rule 5.3(c). Answer B is the best choice because it explains that John could be disciplined if he ratified Bart's conduct or knew of the intended action, but failed to prevent it. Answer A is not the best choice because a lawyer is not automatically responsible for a non-attorney employee's conduct. Neither Answer C nor Answer D is the best choice because Jen and Bart's free speech rights will not prevent application of the Rules of Professional Conduct.

Bart Is a Paralegal at a Large Law Firm with Offices