Section 7 Compliance of recipients and employees with chapter provisions and rules, etc.; attorney responsibilities; non-English speaking clients - Massachusetts Statutes

Section 7. The corporation shall have authority to insure the compliance of recipients and their employees with the provisions of this chapter and the rules, regulations, and guidelines promulgated pursuant to this chapter, and to terminate after a hearing financial support to a recipient which fails to comply. Any such action shall be in accordance with the provisions of chapter thirty A.

No question of whether representation is authorized under this chapter, or the rules, regulations or guidelines promulgated pursuant to this chapter, shall be considered in, or affect the final disposition of any proceeding in which a person is represented by a recipient or an employee of a recipient. A litigant in such a proceeding may refer such question to the corporation which shall review and dispose of a question promptly and take appropriate action.

If a recipient finds that any of its employees has violated or caused the recipient to violate the provisions of this chapter or the rules, regulations, and guidelines promulgated pursuant to this chapter, the recipient shall take appropriate remedial or disciplinary action.

The corporation shall not under any provision of this chapter interfere with any attorney in carrying out his professional responsibilities to his client as established in the canons of ethics and the code of professional responsibility adopted by the supreme judicial court.

The corporation shall ensure that activities under this chapter are carried out in a manner consistent with such professional responsibilities.

No attorney shall receive any compensation, either directly or indirectly, for the provision of legal assistance under this chapter unless such attorney is admitted or otherwise authorized by law, rule, or regulation to practice law or provide such assistance in the commonwealth.

The corporation shall insure that no employee of the corporation or of any recipient while carrying out legal assistance activities under this chapter, shall engage in, or encourage others to engage in, any public demonstration or picketing, boycott or the like. No such employee shall, at any time, engage in, or encourage others to engage in any of the following activities: any rioting or civil disturbance, any activity which is in violation of an outstanding injunction of any court of competent jurisdiction, any other illegal activity, or any intentional identification of the corporation or any recipient with any electoral or partisan political activity.

In areas where significant numbers of eligible clients speak a language other than English as their principal language, the corporation shall, to the extent feasible, ensure that their principal language is used in providing legal assistance to such clients under this chapter.