Law Practice Essentials

It is critical to remember that you must not permit non-lawyer staff to, among other things:

• accept cases on your behalf (see Rule 6.1-3(a) of the Code of Conduct for specific exceptions to this provision);
• give legal advice (Rule 6.1-3(b) of the Code);
• give or accept undertakings or trust conditions (see Rule 6.1-3(c) of the Code for specific exceptions to this provision);
• act finally and without reference to you (or another lawyer in your firm) in matters involving professional legal judgment (Rule 6.1-3(d) of the Code);
• hold themselves out as a lawyer (Rule 6.1-3(e) of the Code); and
• appear in court or actively participate in legal proceedings on behalf of a client (Legal Profession Act section 106(1)(b)), except in a support role to the lawyer appearing at the proceedings authorized by law, the Court of Justice Act, or the Alberta Rules of Court (Rule 6.1-3(f) of the Code).

A full list of prohibited activities can be found under Rule 6.1-3 of the Code.