Direct Supervision vs. General Supervision

Robyn Dotterer, Chair
Peggi Lowden

CHARGE

An issue to be addressed by the licensing of legal assistants is the evolution of responsibilities of legal assistants from direct supervision by an attorney to general supervision of an attorney.

FINDINGS

At this time it is generally understood that the work performed by a legal assistant is done at the behest of an attorney where the attorney gives the legal assistant a specific task on each separate matter and the legal assistant performs that specifically assigned task without delegation of discretion and judgment by the attorney to the legal assistant.  General supervision broadens the responsibilities of a legal assistant to a point that the attorney communicates to the legal assistant a more general assignment and provides direction on the client's anticipated needs which allows the legal assistant to use their own discretion and judgment on behalf of the client.

This broadening of responsibilities of a licensed legal assistant raises the issue of the expectations of the general public to which broadened service is to benefit.  If the licensing of legal assistants is not mandatory for all legal assistants, how will the public be able to distinguish between the licensed and unlicensed legal assistants and the services that each are allowed to provide under the guidelines of the bar and the requirements of unauthorized practice of law?  The public may believe that all legal assistants have the same background, education, training or certification to assist them.  The licensing of legal assistants, for the purposes that the "Access to Justice Task Force Preliminary Final Report" outlines, requires that the public be able to depend on the representation that a person who is a legal assistant is qualified to provide those limited services under the general supervision of an attorney.  To provide the services that the Task Force has recommended would require a standard of abilities.  A mandatory licensing requirement would protect the public from people taking the title "legal assistant" who do not have the requirements to provide those services the Bar and Courts allow licensed legal assistants to provide.

RECOMMENDATION

It is the recommendation of this subcommittee that if licensing of legal assistants is undertaken by the Utah State Bar, that all who persons take the title, and perform the functions of a legal assistant, be required to be licensed.