Supervisory and Subordinate Lawyers

Supervisory lawyers have a duty to ensure that their firm complies with legal and ethical standards. If a supervisor directs or approves a subordinate's misconduct, or fails to take corrective action, they can be held responsible for that violation. Subordinate lawyers are generally protected from liability when they act based on a reasonable interpretation of ambiguous legal issues.

A senior partner at a law firm instructs a junior associate to file a motion that the associate believes is unethical. The associate files the motion anyway, and the court sanctions the firm for the misconduct. The senior partner could be held liable because she ordered the action, while the associate may have a defense if the legal question was genuinely arguable.

Supervisors must supervise; otherwise, they share the blame.

Exams often present scenarios where the line between reasonable and unreasonable actions is blurred, tricking students into misidentifying liability. Students may overlook the nuances of what constitutes a reasonable resolution to an arguable question.

Questions typically involve a scenario where a subordinate acts under a supervisor's direction, testing the boundaries of responsibility and the reasonableness of the subordinate's actions in ambiguous situations.