Spring 2013 Course Schedule

Lgl Ethics (LAW-550-006)
Ghetti

Meets: 06:00 PM - 07:50 PM (W) - Room 524

Enrolled: 48 / Limit: 60

Administrator Access


Notices

2nd-yr required

Description

An examination of the ethical obligations of the lawyer, including a detailed analysis of the Model Code of Professional Responsibility and the Model Rules of Professional Conduct.

This is a course about being a lawyer – from getting admitted to the practice of law to closing out your law practice and everything in between. It will prepare you to take the MPRE (we will work MPRE problems in every class) but it does much more than that. It involves the philosophy of lawyering – what kind of lawyer person do you want to be? Its purpose is to make you think about ethical situations before you encounter them so you will have a foundation to stand on in making the very difficult decisions a lawyer has to make in his or her practice. This course is about you.

The semester is organized, as much as possible, around the issues you will confront as an attorney in the order you will likely confront them. As you can see in the attached syllabus, I am, for the most part, following the presentation of materials in Rotunda’s textbook. The book is not a casebook. It presents the materials in a problem-solving format presenting a factual situation, generally based on a real case, for each topic/chapter and then asking many follow-up questions while providing snippets from cases and rulings to help answer the questions. The book is meant for use in a 2 or 3 credit course. Since this is a 2 credit course, we will not be able to cover everything in the book. Thus, you will see on the syllabus designation of some of the material for a “voluntary” class. I am hoping to have use of a classroom for some period of time prior to class. If there is student interest and if you can come, we will discuss those issues and any other topics not covered in the prior class at that time. Some of them will be tested on the MPRE but they will NOT be covered on a final exam in this course. If I cannot obtain a classroom at that time or if you are not interested in doing so, those topics will not be covered (or I will try to find another time to offer them to you, if you are interested).

The amount of reading (about 20 pages/class or 40 pages/night) and the difficulty of the reading are not demanding but you are expected to come to class with prepared answers having given thought to the questions. I will provide organizational structure, visual keys (I like to use power point) and learning tips but you will provide the information. The class will be very interactive.

Textbooks and Other Materials

The textbook information on this page was provided by the instructor. Students should use this information when considering purchases from the AU Campus Store or other vendors. Students may check to determine if books are currently available for purchase online.

Morgan, Rotunda, and Dzienkowski, PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITY (11th edition, 2011). ISBN #9781599418544

ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct. To save you some money, I will provide a link to the ABA Model Rules, although you are more than welcome to purchase Morgan and Rotunda, SELECTED STANDARDS ON PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITY (2013) or Rotunda and Dzienkowski, PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITY, A STUDENT’S GUIDE (2012-2013).

First Class Readings

Please refer to syllabus.

Syllabus

Use your MyAU username and password to access the syllabus in the following format(s):