Legal Question in Family Law in Rhode Island
Can I submit legal document in an attorney's absence?
My supervising attorney, Mr. Jones, tells me that I will be working on the Harper divorce case. He instructs me to research the divorce laws of Rhode Island. Next I am to prepare the Answer to Petition for Dissolution of Marriage for Mr. Harper. Attorney Jones instructs me to proofread, sign his name (Mr. Jones) on it and then submit it to the court. He then tells me that he will not be available to review or sign it. And to top it all off, he has made plans to go on vacation; from which his return will be after the deadline to file the Answer will have come and gone!
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Can I submit legal document in an attorney's absence?
I am not sure if this is a joke or not. On the off chance that this is a real question, I am assuming that you are not a lawyer licensed to practice in the state of Rhode Island. If this is the case you should not be signing pleadings in someone else�s' name. I am aware that attorney's allow assistants to sign correspondence from time to time in their absence and generally the signature has (or should have)an indication that it is signed by someone else.
The fact that you indicated that you are being instructed to sign and file a pleading that has not been reviewed by the responsible attorney is absolutely unethical. The client has paid for an attorney to handle his case and I do not believe the disciplinary counsel of for the state of RI would ever condone such behavior. Once again if this is not a joke and you are not a lawyer I find this extremely disturbing.
Finally, if I am answering a law student or paralegal�s homework, you should know that during the learning process it is best if you actually learn something for yourself.
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