Professional Responsibility

Known for helping students develop the ability to make sound judgments and to develop a philosophy of lawyering, the concise Professional Responsibility: Problems of Practice and the Profession, Seventh Edition, is adaptable to a host of teaching styles. Scores of realistic problems call on students to develop a cogent philosophy of lawyering as they master basic concepts and prepare for the MPRE. Modular, flexible organization allows professors to adapt the material to a variety of courses and clinical programs. In particular, the book is structured to enable instructors to present the materials doctrinally or by area of practice.

New to the Seventh Edition:

• New author Grace Giesel (Distinguished Teaching Professor at the University of Louisville Brandeis School of Law) has joined the book.
• Throughout the book the authors have inserted Rule Reviews. A Rule Review is a set of questions designed to walk the students through the important facets of the Model Rule of Professional Conduct at issue. The Rule Reviews are designed to ensure the students review and thus capture the parameters of the reviewed rules. The authors provide answers to the questions at the back of the book, so the students can self-assess their learning.

• • The Rule Reviews are in addition to the Chapter Assessment Questions that follow each chapter.
• The authors have revised this edition to present the textual material with more headings and thus in smaller blocks of narrative. This change is intended to assist students in sorting and organizing the material as they learn and to assist instructors in directing the class discussion.
• The book has been updated to include:
  • All recent changes to the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct, including the ABA's substantial revision of the advertising rules.
  • Relevant recent ABA Formal Opinions.
• The book has been revised to include recent developments such as:
  • The legal industry's renewed focus on sexual harassment and discrimination, in part a result of the #MeToo movement (Ch. 8).
  • Alternate litigation funding (Ch. 2).
  • Advance Waivers (Ch. 4).
  • The effect of the presence of third parties on the attorney-client privilege and work-product doctrine (Ch. 3).
  • Recent developments regarding ineffective assistance of counsel (Ch. 2).
  • Recent developments regarding technology (Ch. 3).
• The authors have attempted to make the book as relevant to the students of 2020 as possible. To that end, they include problems and material that are up-to-date and, in some cases, "ripped from the headlines," such as:
  • Material about the involvement of David Boies in the Theranos debacle.
  • An excerpt of Michael Cohen's statement to the court before sentencing.
  • Problem 3-5 now deals with the threat and response of a law firm to cyberattack.

Professors and students will benefit from:

• Realistic problems that develop students' ability to make sound judgments.
• Emphasis on guiding students to articulate a cogent philosophy of lawyering.
• Innovative, flexible organization suited to a variety of courses and clinical programs.
  • Organized by major doctrinal concepts, such as confidentiality and conflicts of interest.
  • Offers alternative organization by area of practice.
  • Modular organization for professor choice.
• Manageable length.
• Multiple choice assessment questions and answers located at the end of each chapter to prepare students for the MPRE.