Comparative Legal Ethics Seminar

3 units

Enrollment limit: 16. This course is part of the Ethics Curriculum. Students in this course will write a research paper of publishable quality in the field of legal ethics. An emphasis will be placed on paper topics which compare U.S. legal ethics approaches with the approaches in other countries. Students will be expected to research legal ethics regimes in at least one other country in addition to the United States. Mechanics and Writing Requirement: The class may meet as a group on a weekly basis for a substantial part of the semester to discuss course readings. Students will be expected to read assigned materials, and participate actively in class discussion. Students may also be required to make presentations based either on their paper topics or comparative material necessary for the successful analysis of issues discussed in their papers. Each student will meet individually with the instructor to discuss the topic selection for his or her paper, and each student will need to turn in a research proposal, an outline, a preliminary draft, and the final, revised, version of the paper (30-40 pages in length). The instructor will meet with students individually to discuss progress on the papers, and students will receive written and oral feedback on the preliminary draft. Although there are no prerequisites, students taking this course should already understand U.S. legal ethics issues, preferably through taking Legal Profession or some other legal ethics course. If a majority of students enrolling in this Seminar have not had a U.S. legal ethics course, the first six or seven weeks of the semester will focus on an overview of U.S. legal ethics issues and may include a short mid-term exam, which will count for 25% of the final grade in the course.