Professional Responsibility for the Transactional Lawyer

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

Not open to students who have taken another two- or three-credit professional responsibility course.

This course explores the issues of legal ethics and professional responsibility that confront lawyers engaged in transactional practice, and the rules and principles that govern and inform our conduct. We will focus on the rules and principles that apply specifically to transactional practice, and on the implications for transactional practice of the rules of more general application. The special challenges of multijurisdictional and international practice will also be addressed, as well as the role of the transactional lawyer as negotiator and as "gatekeeper." Since the corporate or transactional lawyer often (and ideally) functions as a "trusted advisor" with respect to the full spectrum of legal issues, we will also touch on the ethical issues that arise in the litigation context, in internal investigations and in government practice. Finally, we will address the emerging issues surrounding the use of electronic communications, social media, websites and AI.

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