Curriculum Guide · Courses

Professor Barry Cohen

J.D. Course 361 | 2 credit hours

This course examines the rights, obligations and duties of a lawyer in today's society. The Model Rules of Professional Conduct are the source of much of the law presented in the course, but students will also be presented with issues of ethics and morality in the practice of law that require reference to other principles that guide conduct in a complex society. Portions of the course will examine the particular ethical obligations of lawyers who serve as advisers, transactional lawyers and as advocates in dispute resolution, and the sometimes conflicting obligations that lawyers may owe to other participants in the legal system -- courts, adversaries and third parties. The course also includes a discussion of the lawyer's professional obligations with respect to broader social issues in the legal profession, such as the distribution of legal services and the representation of unpopular clients and causes. Many of the topics in the course will be presented in class through the use of problems and case studies. To the extent they are present during the semester, professional responsibility issues arising in current events will be discussed.

Students may receive credit for only one offering in the Professional Responsibility series and may not receive credit for both a course in this series and American Legal Profession or Professional Responsibility: Lawyers’ Ethics in an Adversary System or Legal Ethics in Corporate Practice or Professional Responsibility: Problems from Practice or Professional Responsibility for Tax Lawyers. Students MAY receive credit for this course and Professional Responsibility in Law Firm and Corporate Practice.