N.M. R. Gov. Paral. Serv. 20-113
The letterhead of a lawyer or law firm may not include the name of a paralegal. However, a lawyer or law firm may permit its name to appear on the business card of a paralegal, provided the paralegal's capacity is clearly indicated.
N.M. R. Gov. Paral. Serv. 20-113
Committee commentary. - Rule 16-705 NMRA of the Rules of Professional Conduct specifies what information may be given on a lawyer's letterhead.
A lawyer may permit a paralegal to sign correspondence on his letterhead or on the letterhead of a law firm, as long as the nonlawyer status of the paralegal is clearly disclosed by a title accompanying the signature, such as "paralegal". Moreover, the business card of a paralegal may contain the name, address and telephone number of the paralegal's employer, whether a firm or an individual lawyer. However, the card must on its face be clearly intended to identify the paralegal and not the lawyer or law firm.
The distinction between business cards and letterheads was drawn in ABA [Comm. on Professional Ethics, Opinions, Nos.] 909 (1966) and 1000 (1967). The opinions distinguish business cards and letterheads on the basis that the card is the employee's, basically designed to identify the employee and to state by whom the person is employed, as a reinforcement of what one would expect an employee to convey in an oral statement, not the professional card of the lawyer or law firm. A lawyer who permits the lawyer's name or the name of a law firm to appear on the business card of a paralegal is charged with the responsibility of ensuring that the card meets the same standards of dignity and accuracy as would be required for the lawyer's own card.
ANNOTATIONS
The 2004 amendment, effective January 30, 2004, substituted "paralegal" for "legal assistant" and "paralegal's" for "legal assistant's" throughout the rule and committee commentary, deleted "legal assistant or" following "such as" near the end of the first sentence of the second paragraph in the committee commentary, and substituted "the lawyer's" for "his or her" in the last sentence of the last paragraph in the committee commentary.