The Model Rules of Professional Conduct provides an up-to-date resource for information on legal ethics. Federal, state and local courts in all jurisdictions look to the Rules for guidance in solving lawyer malpractice cases, disciplinary actions, disqualification issues, sanctions questions and much more. In this volume, black-letter Rules of Professional Conduct are followed by numbered Comments that explain each Rule's purpose and provide suggestions for its practical application. The Rules will help you identify proper conduct in a variety of given situations, review those instances where discretionary action is possible, and define the nature of the relationship between you and your clients, colleagues and the courts.
This concise book brings behavioral insights to the wide array of topics commonly taught in the required professional responsibility course, including admission to the practice of law, confidentiality, conflicts of interest, representing entities, prosecutorial and criminal defense ethics, litigation and negotiation ethics, legal billing, and managerial and subordinate responsibilities. Behavioral legal ethics relies on empirical research to explore how lawyers actually make ethical decisions in context, rather than how they predict they would decide an ethical dilemma. This approach complements the law of lawyering by seeking to understand how various psychological factors and situational pressures explain and influence decision-making and resulting ethical (or unethical) action. Each chapter explores findings from behavioral science that pertain to ethical decision-making such as motivated reasoning, confirmation bias and other cognitive biases, fast thinking, the fundamental attribution error, wrongful obedience, conformity, moral disengagement, and much more. In addition, each chapter contains relevant case studies and reflection questions to deepen and cement students' understanding of the role of behavioral legal ethics in professional responsibility. Finally, the book offers ideas for individual attorneys and legal organizations to improve ethical decision-making. The book can be used as a stand-alone text in a required professional responsibility course, along with the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct and select cases and materials, or it can be used as a supplement to a professional responsibility casebook. In addition, the book can be used in advanced legal ethics courses. The authors, both scholars in the field of behavioral legal ethics, are professional responsibility professors who have incorporated behavioral legal ethics into their own classrooms. They have found that students enjoy studying and discussing behavioral insights, and that integrating a behavioral focus to the study of legal ethics helps students better understand the ethical doctrines, policy, and context that underlie the law of lawyering and the ABA Model Rules. A sampling of student testimonials include: "I found the psychology of legal ethics extremely helpful. It really allowed me to focus in on the issues I know I will be challenged with when I enter the legal profession." "I liked how the course was not just putting the rule on the board and going over it, which I have heard some professors do. I liked looking at the rules through a behavioral science lens." "I appreciated the unique take from the behavioral sciences side." "It is kind of hard to imagine studying ethics without any mention of the psychological issues at this point."
The Second Edition of Professional Responsibility in Focus offers a comprehensive, updated exposition of the law governing lawyers and judges. Real-world scenarios throughout the text provide students numerous opportunities for students to apply what they have learned and solidify their understanding of important concepts. New to the Second Edition: More than a dozen new cases and other recent developments—such as the amended advertising and solicitation rules—in an expanded, practice-oriented text with new and revised footnotes. Professors and students will benefit from: Clear and concise coverage of the attorney-client relationship, competence, confidentiality, conflicts of interest, and more. Key Concepts at the start of each chapter and Chapter Summaries at the end of each chapter facilitate study and review Case Previews and Post Case Follow-Ups that frame each case writing clarifies the rules and aid in student understanding An introduction to the legal profession Real Life Applications and Applying the Rules exercises challenge students to apply what they have learned to realistic hypothetical scenarios Updates to Chapter One, on the moral responsibility of lawyers, that provides context for understanding and situating the Model Rules of Professional Responsibility covered in the chapters that follow. 12-chapter organization is easily adapted to two or three-credit courses
How do lawyers resolve ethical dilemmas in the everyday context of their practice? What are the issues that commonly arise, and how do lawyers determine the best ways to resolve them? Until recently, efforts to answer these questions have focused primarily on rules and legal doctrine rather than the real-life situations lawyers face in legal practice. The first book to present empirical research on ethical decision making in a variety of practice contexts, including corporate litigation, securities, immigration, and divorce law, Lawyers in Practice fills a substantial gap in the existing literature. Following an introduction emphasizing the increasing importance of understanding context in the legal profession, contributions focus on ethical dilemmas ranging from relatively narrow ethical issues to broader problems of professionalism, including the prosecutor’s obligation to disclose evidence, the management of conflicts of interest, and loyalty to clients and the court. Each chapter details the resolution of a dilemma from the practitioner’s point of view that is, in turn, set within a particular community of practice. Timely and practical, this book should be required reading for law students as well as students and scholars of law and society.
For its Sixth Edition, this extremely popular casebook continues to mix up-to-date materials with realistic problems to illustrate and demonstrate the full range of ethical issues facing lawyers and judges. Regulation of Lawyers builds on the strengths that earned it such widespread adoption: written by Professor Stephen Gillers, a recognized national authority on the subject in-depth, thorough treatment of the issues in a lively, accessible style covers the full range of professional responsibility topics, including conflicts of interest, special lawyer roles, and avoiding and redressing professional failure with three chapters on control of quality realistic problems (many of which are new or revised) help students Understand The rules and regulations that will govern their professional behavior combines cases, law review articles, excerpts from a wide variety of popular sources, and engaging problems to give variety and vividness accompanied by the most comprehensive annual statutory supplement in the field Regulation of Lawyers: Statutes and Standards, co-authored by Roy D. Simon with major, minor, and state variations of the rules governing lawyers and judges the Sixth Edition incorporates important new material: the no-contact and other ethics rules as they apply to state and federal law enforcers proposed changes in the Model Rules of Professional Conduct new cases on excessive fees (Matter of Fordham), using gender biased terms in a deposition (Mullaney v. Aude), liability for securities and common law fraud arising out of a negotiation for investment in a business (Rubin v. Schottenstein, Zox, & Dunn), And The unauthorized practice of law by lawyers from outside a state (Birbrower, Montalbano, Condon & Frank, P.C. v. Superior Court) coverage of the Clinton/Lewinsky matter And The ethical questions raised by the investigation conducted by Ken Starr to give students a clear understanding of their professional responsibilities from the client-lawyer relationship to their First Amendment rights use the casebook that has been proven effective in the classroom: Gillers' Regulation of Lawyers, Sixth Edition .
Introduces students to rules of ethics, procedure, and substantive principles of law. Students are reminded of the three principal contexts of lawyer regulation: (1) the disciplinary committee; (2) the malpractice forum; and (3) the judicial regulation of lawyers in representing clients. The book also balances professional responsibility issues in litigation and office practice areas. Over a quarter of the discussion on representation is devoted to problems of a lawyer as an adviser, intermediary, evaluator, and lobbyist. Students entering an office practice (tax, corporate, securities, and real estate) will benefit from the book, as will those who practice in the civil or criminal courtroom.
The purchase of this ebook edition does not entitle you to receive access to the Connected eBook with Study Center on CasebookConnect. You will need to purchase a new print book to get access to the full experience, including: lifetime access to the online ebook with highlight, annotation, and search capabilities; practice questions from your favorite study aids; an outline tool and other helpful resources. Many professional responsibility professors struggle to engage students in a required course, one that students wouldn’t otherwise have chosen to take, covering material that simultaneously appears both obvious and intricately technical. Ethical Lawyering: A Guide for the Well-Intentioned addresses those concerns with a fresh look at teaching and learning Professional Responsibility. Instead of containing impenetrable cases typical of most professional responsibility casebooks, which force students and teachers to sort out convoluted facts and incomplete or out-of-date analysis, this book “flips the classroom” by providing detailed explanations of the Model Rules, accompanied by problems for class discussion that require students to explore how the Rules apply in real-world situations—a structure which lends itself easily to both in-person and online courses. The book’s explanations are focused on building statutory interpretation skills, and then bringing these skills to common practice scenarios. Discussion covers all aspects of the law governing lawyers, from professional discipline to civil liability to court sanctions, as well as informal concerns, such as client relations and the business of law practice. Professors and students will benefit from: A “flipped classroom” structure in which the book provides detailed explanations of the Model Rules, interspersed with problems for class discussion, that are both drawn from practice and illustrate some of the challenges in applying the rules in real-world situations. MPRE-style multiple-choice review questions at the end of each chapter (or after substantial portions of a chapter) addressing the material. An informal, irreverent, down to earth, and conversational style, meant to be accessible, crafted to engage students without understating the seriousness of the subject matter, and to encourage them to put themselves into the “hot seats” that the problems describe. A statutory construction approach to the Model Rules, designed to build text-interpretation skills. A comprehensive treatment of the law regulating lawyers, considering all of the practical hazards that lawyers face, and illustrating the connections between the Model Rules as a basis for professional discipline and the law of torts (fiduciary duty and malpractice), contracts (scope of the attorney-client relationship and engagement agreements), agency (authority), and procedure (sanctions), as well as informal concerns such as client relations and reputational issues. A digital edition that includes links to all necessary statutory materials. Teaching materials Include: A detailed Teacher’s Manual, including: Suggested syllabi for two-hour and three-hour courses. Detailed analyses of all of the problems, including pedagogical suggestions, to stimulate class discussion. Explanatory answers to the MPRE-style multiple-choice review questions. Suggested PowerPoints for class use. Two online-only chapters (The Government Lawyer; Judicial Ethics).
Facing numerous professional responsibility challenges, trial and appellate lawyers must handle significant problems that can arise suddenly or in difficult circumstances. Written by experienced trial and appellate lawyers, this updated edition focuses on the responsibilities of practicing lawyers. Organized as an anthology with chapters that trace the life of a lawsuit from start to finish, each chapter covers a key aspect of litigation in depth. It begins with an examination of the professional responsibility issues attending pre-suit investigations and the initiation of litigation, and concludes with a discussion of the professional responsibilities unique to appellate lawyers. Chapters address key issues, such as pre-suit investigation; co-counsel and referral relationships; surreptitious investigations and discovery; ethics of e-discovery; receipt and release of confidential information; expert witness conflicts of interest; false testimony; lawyers as witnesses; and more.
