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Many professional responsibility professors struggle to engage students in a required course, one that students wouldn’t otherwise have chosen to take, covering material that simultaneously appears both obvious and intricately technical. Ethical Lawyering: A Guide for the Well-Intentioned addresses those concerns with a fresh look at teaching and learning Professional Responsibility. Instead of containing impenetrable cases typical of most professional responsibility casebooks, which force students and teachers to sort out convoluted facts and incomplete or out-of-date analysis, this book flips the classroom by providing detailed explanations of the Model Rules, accompanied by problems for class discussion that require students to explore how the Rules apply in real-world situations–a structure which lends itself easily to both in-person and online courses. The book’s explanations are focused on building statutory interpretation skills, and then bringing these skills to common practice scenarios. Discussion covers all aspects of the law governing lawyers, from professional discipline to civil liability to court sanctions, as well as informal concerns, such as client relations and the business of law practice.

Professors and students will benefit from:

A flipped classroom structure in which the book provides detailed explanations of the Model Rules, interspersed with problems for class discussion, that are both drawn from practice and illustrate some of the challenges in applying the rules in real-world situations. MPRE-style multiple-choice review questions at the end of each chapter (or after substantial portions of a chapter) addressing the material. An informal, irreverent, down to earth, and conversational style, meant to be accessible, crafted to engage students without understating the seriousness of the subject matter, and to encourage them to put themselves into the hot seats that the problems describe. A statutory construction approach to the Model Rules, designed to build text-interpretation skills. A comprehensive treatment of the law regulating lawyers, considering all of the practical hazards that lawyers face, and illustrating the connections between the Model Rules as a basis for professional discipline and the law of torts (fiduciary duty and malpractice), contracts (scope of the attorney-client relationship and engagement agreements), agency (authority), and procedure (sanctions), as well as informal concerns such as client relations and reputational issues. A digital edition that includes links to all necessary statutory materials.

Teaching materials Include:

A detailed Teacher’s Manual, including:

Suggested syllabi for two-hour and three-hour courses. Detailed analyses of all of the problems, including pedagogical suggestions, to stimulate class discussion. Explanatory answers to the MPRE-style multiple-choice review questions. Suggested PowerPoints for class use.

Two online-only chapters (The Government Lawyer; Judicial Ethics).