N.M. R. Gov. Paral. Serv. 20-107
A paralegal may not act as an advocate on behalf of the client and cannot appear in court or any other tribunal, either in person or on record, as a representative of or advocate for the client, except to the extent authorized by law.
N.M. R. Gov. Paral. Serv. 20-107
Committee commentary. - Only a lawyer may act as a representative of or advocate for a client. A paralegal cannot appear, plead, try cases or argue in court on behalf of anyone other than the paralegal pro se, or do anything in a representative capacity for a client unless specifically authorized by the Rules of Professional Conduct, statutes, court rules or decisions. Even when a paralegal is permitted to appear and represent a client, if the paralegal's employer is named as attorney of record, the paralegal should disclose the paralegal's nonlawyer status. See Rule 20-104 NMRA.
ANNOTATIONS
The 2004 amendment, effective January 30, 2004, substituted "paralegal" for "legal assistant" near the beginning of the rule, and in the committee commentary, substituted "paralegal" for "legal assistant", "paralegal's" for "legal assistant's" and "the paralegal's" for "his" throughout.