Professional Responsibility

This course satisfies the J.D. Professional Responsibility requirement.

This course will cover ethical issues faced by attorneys in daily practice, with emphasis or corporate and financial transactional practice, and will address both Rules-based and case law analysis of ethics issues. Note that professor's legal experience has been in transactional practice in private practice in large law firm and as General Counsel to the U.S. operations of a European bank. Students seeking to practice in public interest or criminal defense work may wish to choose a course more focused in ethical problems in these areas of practice. The course will also offer practical solutions to common situations faced by attorneys, both as they enter the practice of law and throughout their career. The course will focus on the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct, with some discussion of the New York Rules of Professional Conduct and State bar opinions. The course will also touch on multijurisdictional approaches to certain areas of professional responsibility, both in the United States and transnationally.

Classroom discussions will include panel discussions of both class hypotheticals and actual cases, with each panel presenting arguments for or against certain courses of action to be taken in response to ethics issues raised. Discussion will place an emphasis on reaching practical solutions, balancing personal ethics and moral perspective with applicable rules and regulations governing lawyer conduct.

Method of Evaluation:
75% - Final Exam
25% - Class Participation and Panel Discussions

This course also satisfies the LL.M. Professional Responsibility requirement for the California bar.