As a law clerk in CA, are we held to the same ethical standards as attorneys? do they apply to us, too?

Answer 1

Yes. Most law clerks are law students working part-time under the supervision of an attorney or are law school graduates who have not yet passed the bar exam [or are waiting for the results of the bar exam].

That is enough to bind you to the same standards of behavior. In a law firm I used to work for, the partners insisted that paralegals and secretaries also behave according to the highest ethical standards.

The fact that you work under the close supervision of an attorney should be enough to bind you to the same ethical standards.

Answer 2

Depends on how you use the term "Law Clerk"! Many ARE lawyers and it would apply to them.

I don't think any court can hold a law clerk who is not an attorney and member of the bar to any of their rules.

There may be some laws regarding those who do clerk andare not lawyers, and I assume things that are illegal, like theft, would be those you do have to go by!

Check out the law in your state As I don't believe you are using a correct term!

Most law clerks are recent law school graduates who were at the very top of their class, and/or graduated from the most prestigious law schools. Judges on appellate courts, especially in the federal court system, often require that applicants for law clerk positions have experience with law review or moot court. Trial court judges, especially in state court systems, are more likely not to require these credentials, because the large majority of students with top credentials are hired by law firms or receive appellate court clerkships, and never become available to these judges.

Because of the selection criteria, many notable legal figures, professors, and judges were law clerks before achieving greatness in other areas of the law.

Five Supreme Court Justices previously clerked for other Supreme Court Justices. Associate Justice Byron White clerked for Chief Justice Frederick M. Vinson. Associate Justice John Paul Stevens clerked for Associate Justice Wiley Rutledge. Associate Justice Stephen Breyer clerked for Associate Justice Arthur Goldberg and Chief Justice John Roberts clerked for Chief Justice William Rehnquist when Rehnquist was still an Associate Justice. Rehnquist himself had previously clerked for Associate Justice Robert H. Jackson.

Some judges seek to hire law clerks who not only have excelled academically but also share the judge's ideological orientation. However, this occurs mostly at the level of some state supreme courts and the United States Supreme Court. Law clerks can have a great deal of influence on the judges with whom they work.

Upon completing a judicial clerkship, a law clerk often becomes very marketable to elite law firms.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_clerk

Answer 3

Yes; although I doubt you know as much as the attorney. But as far as the scope of your job goes; you must treat cases confidentially. Just like the legal secretaries do.

And frankly, I am not sure you should be a law clerk if you do not know the answer to this. Who are you wishing to tell on?

Answer 4

They SHOULD! If they don't, then there should still be a reporting agency in case you ever attempt to get a liscence to practice law or become a paralegal. Too many "clerks" give poor advice that actually can ruin peoples lives. They should be required to pay for their damages if they speak out & give "expert-advice"!

Answer 5

I would have to say yes. Especially if it pertains to information gathered during the course of your work.