Regulations and Ethics of Lawyers

Course Description - Johansen

This course considers the legal obligations and ethical expectations of an attorney in not only a professional capacity but also on a non-professional, personal level. Examined are the professional conduct requirements relative to an attorney's relationship with clients, other attorneys, the legal system and even the community at large. While certainly many of the issues considered are rooted in ethical philosophy, there should be no confusion that this is a jurisprudential theory course. The content focuses on the ABA's Model Rules of Professional Conduct and how this regulatory scheme is being judicially interpreted.

The application of these rules are analyzed through problem situations using cases, readings, videos and guest commentators. This is a graded course.

This course satisfies the professionalism requirement.

Course Description - Mullmann

Class Limited to 40 students

The premise of this course is that legal ethics is a practical discipline rather than an exercise in philosophy. The focus is on specific ethical problems and typical ethical dilemmas faced by lawyers in their practice rather than abstract values, but philosophical viewpoints are often expressed.

Case law is considered and specific fact situations containing various ethical problems are discussed in class in conjunction with the Oregon Code of Professional Conduct, the ABA's Model Rules, and other materials. Members of the class usually disagree as to the proper solution of each problem.

Class participation is stressed. A final exam is required as well as a short (not to exceed four pages) written paper that includes interviewing a lawyer on a specific topic assigned by the professor . Although the course may be helpful in passing the Oregon ethics exam, it is not designed for that purpose. This is a graded course.

This course satisfies the professionalism requirement.