Ethics Opinions
Iowa Supreme Court Board of Professional Ethics and Conduct
Date of Opinion: 09/11/2003
Opinion Number: 04-01
Title: LEGAL ASSISTANT: DESIGNATION OF CERTIFIED LEGAL ASSISTANT
Opinion: In its opinion 88-05 of September 7, 1988, the Board stated that “since the term ‘CLA’ is a private one, not identified or recognized by the public, nor even, perhaps by the whole bar,” that adding the letters “CLA” to a signature “could mislead the reader, even to the point of believing it to be a legal degree.” The Board thus disapproved allowing a legal assistant who had met the qualifications to be a certified legal assistant from identifying himself or herself as a “CLA.”
In its opinion 88-19 of June 8, 1989, the Board held the designation “Certified Legal Assistant” to be improper.
You have requested that the Board rescind prior opinions 88-05 and 88-19. You have provided a great deal of documentation attesting to the rigid requirements to be certified and the desirability of encouraging legal assistants to achieve such certification. While the Board is not convinced the designation “CLA” is not still confusing to the general public, the Board does concur that it is desirable for legal assistants to achieve certification by the National Association of Legal Assistants and that they be able to indicate such certification.
It is therefore the opinion of the Board that a legal assistant to an Iowa lawyer or law firm who has met the certification requirements of the National Association of Legal Assistants may add “Certified Legal Assistant” where his or her name properly appears, but not “CLA.”
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