A per diem attorney nyc is someone who is hired by a law firm to cover court appearances for attorneys who are either not available or unavailable for whatever reason. These appearances may be routine calendar calls, a defense examination or a deposition. The lawyer who is hired to cover the appearance may also be asked to draft a motion or pleading. Occasionally, these assignments can be complicated, but more often they are relatively straightforward and do not require the skill of an experienced attorney.
The need to hire a per diem attorney nyc arises from unavoidable scheduling conflicts or the requirement of appearing in distant courts for ministerial and non-substantive matters. Generally, it is not cost-effective to hire a full-time associate for such duties and many small firms have difficulty finding coverage when they need it. The availability of a per diem attorney can help meet such scheduling needs, as well as avoid costly litigation delays and lost billing opportunities.
Participating lawyers enter their rates, availability and areas of practice in the Service’s database. A hiring lawyer then sends a request to the Service indicating a date, time and location of a requested appearance, together with the case caption and a short description of the matter. The Service then generates a list of participating lawyers who are available to act on the request. The hiring lawyer chooses a per diem attorney to handle the assignment and makes payment to that lawyer.
Despite the fact that the work that a per diem lawyer performs is limited in scope and does not involve discretion, a lawyer who is hired to represent a client nevertheless owes duties to that client, adversaries and the courts. These duties include loyalty, candor, and prompt communication with the client. In addition, the lawyer must not make a false statement of fact or law to an adversary. Finally, the lawyer must not communicate on the subject of the representation with a party who is known to be represented by counsel unless that counsel gives the lawyer permission to do so.
The use of per diem attorneys by large and small law firms is a normal and necessary part of the business of practicing law. However, the hiring lawyer must ensure that the work performed by a per diem attorney complies with the Rules of Professional Conduct and other applicable legal regulations.
Thus, for example, a New York lawyer who is representing a client in a lawsuit filed against the client’s former employer cannot simultaneously hire a per diem attorney to take a deposition of that client’s current employer, even though it might be appropriate in some circumstances to do so. The client must consent to the arrangement and the hiring lawyer must ensure that the per diem attorney complies with all other ethical requirements, including conflict checks. The same is true for a lawyer who is using an online service owned by non-lawyers to arrange for per diem lawyers to cover court appearances on behalf of his or her clients.