Legal Profession

3 units

[This course is part of the ethics curriculum; it is considered a "survey" course. Students may not take more than one survey course for credit toward their degree. Other survey courses offered recently and/or this academic year are: Lawyer Ethics, Ethics & Professionalism in the Practice of Law, and Legal Profession taught by another professor.] The overarching goal of this course is to help prepare you for the ethical dilemmas you will face as a practicing lawyer. How one responds to these issues determines whether or not a lawyer may be sued for malpractice, disciplined professionally, or possibly violate the lawyer's sense of what is "right" or "wrong." We will explore the nature and types of client-attorney relationships, confidentiality rules, client-attorney privilege, conflicts of interest, ethical issues in representing entity clients such as corporations and partnerships, fees, professional self-regulation, access to legal services, public interest representation, and the role of lawyers for the government. We will study the Model Rules of Professional Conduct and ethical duties under common law and other sources of authority. Most of the classes will focus on the skill of problem solving as you learn to recognize and resolve ethical dilemmas you will face in practice. Other skills you will use and develop include: legal analysis and reasoning, legal research, communication skills, and client counseling. This course also will focus on the professional values of providing competent legal representation, improving the legal profession, and examining the legal profession's role in promoting justice, fairness, and morality. Students are expected to participate in class discussions and simulations, complete several quizzes (which will be announced in advance), and take a final exam consisting of one or more essay and/or short answer questions and multiple choice questions modeled after MPRE questions.