Courses | Columbia Law School

Section Description Provided by Instructor

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

The legal and ethical responsibilities of lawyers are studied. Ethics codes, the Constitution, cases, statutory material, and secondary sources comprise the reading. Realistic
problems and current events are used throughout. Questions addressed include: What does it mean to be a professional? What values inform the law governing lawyers? What
responsibilities do (or should) lawyers have for (i) justice and fairness, (ii) the (mal)distribution of legal services? How does (will or should) globalization and technology change our answers to these questions? Specific topics include: civil and criminal advocacy; representing corporations and other organizations; negotiation ethics and transactional matters; special duties of prosecutors; special problems for government lawyers; conflicts of interest; confidentiality and privilege; free speech rights of lawyers and judicial candidates; judicial conflicts and disqualification; bias and issues involving race, religion and gender; obstruction of justice; malpractice; the "bad client" problem; bar admission and discipline; and multijurisdictional practice.

Not open to students who have taken another two- or three-credit professional responsibility course. Evaluation: open-book final exam, class participation, and required response paper of 1200 to 1400 words.