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Professional Responsibility

Past Offerings

Professional Responsibility (8022): This course introduces students to the goals, rules and responsibilities of the American legal profession and its members. The course is designed around the premise that the subject of professional responsibility is the single most relevant to students' future careers as members of the bar. These issues come up on a constant basis and it is critical that lawyers be alert to spotting them when they arise and be educated in the methods of resolving them. As such, the course will address many of the most commonly recurring issues that arise, such as confidentiality, conflicts of interest, candor to the courts and others, the role of the attorney as counselor, the structure of the attorney-client relationship, issues around billing, the tension between "cause lawyering" and individual representation, and lawyers' duty to serve the underrepresented. The course will consider the overlapping, inconsistent, and incomplete sources of the regulation of lawyers in the United States. International graduate students will bring their own experiences to compare with standards applicable to legal behavior in different jurisdictions. The course will also instill familiarity with much of the coverage and testing methods of the Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination that is required by virtually every U.S. state and territory for licensure. Individual and group participation in class discussion is vital, as well as good faith completion of review questions and/or brief quizzes on the daily reading assignments. Students will work regularly in small groups to discuss hypothetical problems during each class. Each student must also submit a brief reflection paper on five occasions during the course.. The instructor retains the right to take class participation and attendance into account in the final assessment. This course is taught on an accelerated basis with an introductory class at Orientation and classes on most days during the three weeks between Orientation and the beginning of the Autumn Quarter classes. Limited to LLMs, JSMs and exchange students. Required for LLMs.

Sections

Professional Responsibility | LAW 8022 Section 01 Class #28605

  • 3 Units
  • Grading: Law Mandatory P/R/F
  • 2023-2024 Autumn
    Schedule No Longer Available
  • Enrollment Limitations: Consent
  • Learning Outcomes Addressed:
    • LO1 - Substantive and Procedural Law
    • LO2 - Legal Analysis and Reasoning
    • LO6 - Law Governing Lawyers/Ethical Responsibilities
  • Course Category:
    • Legal Ethics & Legal Profession

Notes: On Wednesday, Sept. 13, class meets 9:30AM-12:30PM (instead of 1:30PM-4:30PM). Limited to advanced degree students.

  • 2023-2024 Autumn
    Schedule No Longer Available

Professional Responsibility (8022): This course introduces students to the goals, rules and responsibilities of the American legal profession and its members. The course is designed around the premise that the subject of professional responsibility is the single most relevant to students' future careers as members of the bar. These issues come up on a constant basis and it is critical that lawyers be alert to spotting them when they arise and be educated in the methods of resolving them. As such, the course will address many of the most commonly recurring issues that arise, such as confidentiality, conflicts of interest, candor to the courts and others, the role of the attorney as counselor, the structure of the attorney-client relationship, issues around billing, the tension between "cause lawyering" and individual representation, and lawyers' duty to serve the underrepresented. The course will consider the overlapping, inconsistent, and incomplete sources of the regulation of lawyers in the United States. International graduate students will bring their own experiences to compare with standards applicable to legal behavior in different jurisdictions. The course will also instill familiarity with the coverage and testing methods of the Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination that is required by virtually every U.S. state and territory for licensure. Individual and group participation in class discussion is vital, as well as good faith completion of review questions and/or brief quizzes on the daily reading assignments. Students will work regularly in small groups to discuss hypothetical problems during each class, as well as complete a group assignment due at the close of the course. Each student must also submit a brief reflection paper. The instructor retains the right to take class participation and attendance into account in the final assessment. This course is offered to international graduate students only. It is taught on an accelerated basis with an introductory class at Orientation and daily classes during the three weeks between orientation and the beginning of the Autumn Quarter classes. Limited to LLMs, JSMs and exchange students. Required for LLMs.

Sections

Professional Responsibility | LAW 8022 Section 01 Class #30304

  • 3 Units
  • Grading: Law Mandatory P/R/F
  • 2022-2023 Autumn
    Schedule No Longer Available
  • Enrollment Limitations: Consent
  • Learning Outcomes Addressed:
    • LO1 - Substantive and Procedural Law
    • LO2 - Legal Analysis and Reasoning
    • LO6 - Law Governing Lawyers/Ethical Responsibilities
  • Course Category:
    • Legal Ethics & Legal Profession

Notes: Meeting dates and time to be announced by instructor. Limited to advanced degree students.

  • 2022-2023 Autumn
    Schedule No Longer Available

Professional Responsibility (8022): This course introduces students to the goals, rules and responsibilities of the American legal profession and its members. The course is designed around the premise that the subject of professional responsibility is the single most relevant to students' future careers as members of the bar. These issues come up on a constant basis and it is critical that lawyers be alert to spotting them when they arise and be educated in the methods of resolving them. As such, the course will address many of the most commonly recurring issues that arise, such as confidentiality, conflicts of interest, candor to the courts and others, the role of the attorney as counselor, the structure of the attorney-client relationship, issues around billing, the tension between "cause lawyering" and individual representation, and lawyers' duty to serve the underrepresented. In addition, we will delve into some more personal ethical issues that reflect on why students have chosen law as a profession and how lawyers compose careers that promote or frustrate those goals. At the start of each session (starting with the second session) there will be a brief quiz on the material that was covered in the readings and discussion of the prior session. During the period of the course, students will also be responsible for submitting one reflection paper (three-to-five pages) based on a prompt that will be circulated after each of the first six sessions (one paper for the entire course). These papers will be due by 11:59 on the last day the class meets. Grades will be based on the quizzes and the paper submitted, with the instructor retaining the right to take class participation into account. Attendance is mandatory and students must seek instructor approval for any absences not due to illness. This course is offered to international graduate students only. It is taught on an accelerated basis over the course of three weeks between orientation and the beginning of the Fall Quarter classes. Thus, the course meets on average nine hours per week. The exact meeting times will be set once the graduate students' schedules are set. Elements used in grading: Attendance, class participation, quizzes and written memo. Limited to LLMs, JSMs and exchange students. Required for LLMs.

Sections

Professional Responsibility | LAW 8022 Section 01 Class #1112

  • 3 Units
  • Grading: Law Mandatory P/R/F
  • 2021-2022 Autumn
    Schedule No Longer Available
  • Enrollment Limitations: Consent
  • Learning Outcomes Addressed:
    • LO1 - Substantive and Procedural Law
    • LO2 - Legal Analysis and Reasoning
    • LO6 - Law Governing Lawyers/Ethical Responsibilities
  • Course Category:
    • Legal Ethics & Legal Profession

Notes: Meeting dates and time TBA by instructor. Limited to advanced degree students.

  • 2021-2022 Autumn
    Schedule No Longer Available
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