Professional Responsibility (Sandman)
Faculty
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| James Sandman Distinguished Lecturer and Senior Consultant to the Future of the Profession Initiative james.j.sandman@gmail.com |
Additional Information
Skills Training
Other Professional Skills: Legal reasoning, statutory/regulatory interpretation, client counseling, good judgment.
Grading
100% Exam,
Other (Students who are active participants in class will be eligible for an upward step adjustment in grade (e.g., from B+ to A-) if their exam result is on the cusp of grade difference.)
Exam
Essay,
Take Home,
Partial Open Book (You may consult the casebook, the Model Rules of Professional Conduct, your class notes, and all materials posted on Canvas in completing the exam. )
No
Class meets in person.
Course Continuity
Students are encouraged to stay home if you are ill or experience flu-like symptoms. If you miss a class for any reason, it is still your responsibility to make up the work missed.
I offer the following to students who miss class due to illness:
- Class sessions are regularly recorded. I will make these recordings routinely available on the course site to everyone in the class.
- I will make PowerPoint slides or other class materials routinely available on the course site to everyone in the class.
Meeting Times/Location
T 4:30PM - 6:20PM
Gittis Hall 213
Category
Upper-Level
Credits
2.0
This course will prepare you to be a highly successful, sought-after lawyer who models integrity and high ethical standards. The course is practical. It draws on my experience in a big law firm, in government service, and as a public interest lawyer. It focuses not merely on the Rules of Professional Conduct, but also on how to provide star-quality client service.
We will study starting and ending the lawyer-client relationship, lawyer-client decision-making, communication with clients, client confidentiality, and conflicts of interest. We will discuss the limits of proper advocacy, adversarial abuses, and lawyer discipline. We will explore how the rules regulating lawyers affect the functioning of the legal marketplace and access to justice for people and businesses that cannot afford a lawyer. We will see that you can be a great, wildly successful lawyer without ever having to compromise your principles.
The course will consider the different contexts in which lawyers practice – as advocates and as counselors, representing individuals and organizations, and working in law firms, corporate legal departments, government agencies, and public interest organizations,. No matter what kind of practice you intend to pursue, this course will be useful for you. Our guest speakers will include a judge, the General Counsel of a big law firm, the Executive Director of a legal aid provider, and the General Counsel of a Fortune-500 company.
Classes will be a combination of Socratic method and lecture. I don't cold-call. At the beginning of the semester, I designate several students for each class on whom I will call if there are no volunteers. I regard the people who take my course as colleagues, and I aim for a classroom atmosphere that is interesting, enjoyable, respectful, and comfortable for all.
I am available to discuss the course, to give career guidance, and to serve as a mentor both during my office hours and at any other time, including evenings and weekends. I work for you, not the reverse.
One class will be devoted to lawyer wellness, an important part of being an effective practitioner.
Our readings will be from the casebook Legal Ethics (9th ed. 2024), by Deborah L. Rhode, David Luban, Scott L. Cummings, Nora Freeman Engstrom, and Benjamin H. Barton. We will also use the American Bar Association’s Model Rules of Professional Conduct, available free online at https://www.americanbar.org/groups/professional_responsibility/publications/model_rules_of_professional_conduct/model_rules_of_professional_conduct_table_of_contents/
Grades will be based on a untimed takeaway final exam consisting of three essay questions. I provide the maximum time to do the exam -- from the beginning of the exam period until the end.
Professional Responsibility and Ethics Learning outcomes: Demonstrate an understanding of how the law affects, and is affected by, the individual course topic; Perform legal analysis in the context of the individual course topic; Communicate effectively on the legal and other aspects of the individual course topic; Demonstrate the ability to use other disciplines to analyze legal issues relevant to the individual course topic, including economics, philosophy, and sociology, as appropriate.
Textbooks
"Legal Ethics" by Deborah L. Rhode, David Luban, Scott Cummings, Nora Freeman Engstrom, Benjamin H. Barton |