PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITY

SPRING 2014
GREGORY
Florence Hall 207
SYLLABUS
TEXTS
1. Martyn & Fox, Traversing the Ethical Minefield: Problems, Law & Professional
Responsibility, 3rd edition
2. Martyn, Fox & Wendel, The Law overning Lawyers, !ational R"les, #tandards,
#tat"tes and #tate Lawyer $odes, %&'3(%&') edition
3. Each class you will have an assignment from our Martyn & Fox text. he
assignments include !ro"lems that refer you to s!ecified #$# Model %ules. %ead the
s!ecified %ules together with their &ommentary and any references to the %estatement
sections 'referred to as %()(* and any references to !rocedural or evidentiary rules as
!art of your class !re!aration.
ASSIGNMENTS
ANUARY
$ecoming a (awyer
&lass +1 1,13 -n !re!aration for the first class, !lease read all of the #$#
Model %ules. his should not ta.e you more than an hour or two.
- will s!end our first class covering the salient !oints of &ha!ter 1
"y lecture and discussion. $ut, - am not re/uiring that you read
&ha!ter 1.
&lass +2 1,10 Martyn & Fox, !!. 23122
3isci!line and (ia"ility for 4rofessional Wor.
&lass +3 1,22 Martyn & Fox, !!. 221556 72185
&lass +5 1,27 Martyn & Fox, !!. 80122
&lass +0 1,22 Martyn & Fox, !!. 1991118
1
FEBRUARY
&lass +: 2,3 Martyn & Fox, !!. 1221155
&lass +7 2,0 Martyn & Fox, !!. 15511:1
&onfidentiality and 4rivilege
&lass +8 2,19 Martyn & Fox, !!. 1:31175
&lass +2 2,12 Martyn & Fox, !!. 1751120
&lass +19 2,17 Martyn & Fox, !!. 1201219
&lass +11 2,12 Martyn & Fox, !!. 2111222
&lass +12 2,25 Martyn & Fox, !!. 2221257
&lass +13 2,2: Martyn & Fox, !!. 2571202
MAR!H
&lass +15 3,3 Martyn & Fox, !!. 2021270
&lass +10 3,0 Martyn & Fox, !!. 2701222
&onflicts
&lass +1: 3,17 Martyn & Fox, !!. 3921325
&lass +17 3,12 Martyn & Fox, !!. 3251353
&lass +18 3,25 Martyn & Fox, !!. 3501379
&lass +12 3,2: Martyn & Fox, !!. 3791382
&lass +29 3,31 Martyn & Fox, !!. 3211592
2
APRIL
&lass +21 5,2 Martyn & Fox, !!. 592152:
Fees and &lient 4ro!erty
&lass +22 5,7 Martyn & Fox, !!. 5381508
&lass +23 5,2 Martyn & Fox, !!. 5081580
erminating a %elationshi!
&lass +25 5,15 Martyn & Fox, !!. 5871092
&lass +20 5,1: Martyn & Fox, !!. 0931025
$ounds of the (aw
&lass +2: 5,17 Martyn & Fox, !!. 0281058
&lass +27 5,21 Martyn & Fox, !!. 0581002
$eing a (awyer
&lass +28 5,23 (ecture and discussion of various 4% to!ics
to "e announced
3
!OURSE MEMORAN"UM
&(#;; %<<M #=3 -ME> <ur s!ring 2915 semester class meets Monday and
Wednesday, 7>09 to 2>90 !m in Florence ?all, %oom 297, from Monday, @anuary 13
through Wednesday, #!ril 23, 2915.
4%<FE;;<% #A#-(#$-(-B> - am ha!!y to meet with you at any mutually convenient
time. ;end me an e1mail and - will res!ond as !rom!tly as !ossi"le. - am also availa"le
immediately following class.
E(E&%<=-& &<MMC=-&#-<=> My electronic mail address is rgregoryDsmu.edu.
When you send an e1mail, !lease note E4rofessional %es!onsi"ilityF in the su"Gect line.
-n turn, - will communicate with you via e1mail sent to your res!ective ;MC e1mail
addresses. 4lease chec. your e1mail "efore coming to class in case there are any changes
to the assignments.
&<C%;E M#E%-#(;> he re/uired materials for this course are noted in the attached
;ylla"us. - have assigned a fixed num"er of !ages in the case"oo. for each wee.. We
may cover more or less in class de!ending on how the discussion !roceeds. -t is also
!ossi"le that - may !eriodically assign s!ecific !ro"lems to student grou!s to !resent to
the class. -f, so, - will let you .now in advance to ena"le you to !re!are. -rres!ective,
you should read the !ro"lems and thin. a"out the answers to them. -n addition to the
reading, we may discuss current events 'lawyers in the news*. hese su!!lements may
affect how many !ages we cover in one session. Bou are res!onsi"le for all the assigned
reading, everything we cover in class and any additional materials - distri"ute via e1mail
or otherwise. his is a tentative sylla"us, meaning we may need to ma.e adGustments as
we !roceed.
)%#3E,F-=#( EH#M> Bour grade will de!end u!on your final examination, which is
scheduled for Wednesday, #!ril 39 at :>99 !m. -t will "e a limited o!en "oo. exam. Bou
will "e allowed to "ring your rule"oo., Ehe (aw )overning (awyersF to the exam.
=othing else will "e !ermitted. Bou may mar., ta", cross1reference or write in your
rule"oo., however, the writing must "e yours. Bou may not !aste into the "oo. your or
someone elseIs outline, a commercial outline, !hotoco!ies of "oo. !ages etc. -f in dou"t
a"out what can and cannot "e in your "oo., as. me '!refera"ly "efore exam day*. Bou
will not "e allowed to "ring the Martyn Fox text"oo., Eraversing the Ethical Minefield.F
he exam will "e 3 hours. #ll /uestions will as. you to answer according to the #$#Is
Model %ules of 4rofessional &onduct, which will "e the focus of the course, unless
otherwise indicated. - antici!ate 'while reserving the right to change my mind11with
notice to you* that the final examination will consist of a series of multi!le1choice
/uestions and !ossi"ly some short answer /uestions.
?aving already !assed the M4%E does not guarantee that you will !ass this course.
5
#E=3#=&E> %egular and !unctual attendance is re/uired. Bou will "e !ermitted 0
unexcused a"sences. #ttendance will "e ta.en at the "eginning of every class. he
!rofessor must excuse a"sences in excess of 0 class sessions. # student who is a"sent an
unreasona"le num"er of times may lose the o!!ortunity to ta.e the final exam. here is
no o"ligation to tell me why you are a"sent if you have not exceeded the allowed num"er
of a"sences. -f an a"sence is necessitated "y a religious o"servance or an officially
sanctioned, scheduled Cniversity extracurricular activity, !lease let me .now in writing
so it will not "e counted as an a"sence. Following the first class, select a !ermanent seat
where you will sit for the remainder of the semester. ;ign your name on the seating chart
inside the "ox re!resenting your seat in class.
(#4 <4 &<M4CE%;> (a! to! com!uters will "e !ermitted in class !rovided they are
only used for ta.ing notes. - consider it !rofessional misconduct for any student to use
his or her la!to! for any reason other than ta.ing notes. -f a student is found to have
committed !rofessional misconduct, he or she will not "e !ermitted to use their com!uter
in future classes. -f you cannot restrain yourself in this regard, - recommend you ta.e
handwritten notes.
&(#;; 4#%-&-4#-<=> Bour grade will not "e hurt "y your class !artici!ation "ut a
strong !artici!ation and !erformance in class may hel! your grade. - may adGust the final
grade score u! "y one grade ste! "ased u!on class !artici!ation 'e.g., &J to $1*.
E4artici!ationF means attendance, !re!aration, and ta.ing !art in the class discussions. -
want you to !artici!ate whenever you have something to say. -f you are una"le to
!re!are for class on a !articular day "ecause of extenuating circumstances, !lease attend
class anyway. Bou do not need to inform me that you are un!re!ared. -f you are called
on and you do not feel comforta"le ta.ing an educated guess, Gust say that you wish to
ta.e a !ass.
&(#;; E-KCEE> $efore class "egins, silence any device that ma.es noise.
;tudents are ex!ected to arrive on time for class and to remain throughout class. -f an
emergency ma.es it im!ossi"le for you to meet these ex!ectations, !lease let me .now
either "efore class "egins, or as soon as !ossi"le after it ends. -f you must leave early
from class, - can tem!orarily assign you to a more convenient seat.
3-;#$-(-B #&&<MM<3#-<=> ;tudents needing academic accommodations for a
disa"ility must first contact 3isa"ility #ccommodations & ;uccess ;trategies '3#;;* at
'215* 7:811579 or htt!>,,www.smu.edu,alec,dass.as! to verify the disa"ility and to
esta"lish eligi"ility for accommodations. he 3#;; office will coordinate the !rovision
of accommodations with the office of the #ssistant 3ean for ;tudent #ffairs at the
3edman ;chool of (aw.
&<C%;E 3E;&%-4-<=> 4rofessional %es!onsi"ility is a 31credit course that reviews
and analyLes the ethical rules that govern the conduct of lawyers. -t is one of the most
useful of law school courses and is relevant to your career no matter what area of law you
choose. We will discuss a variety of legal !rinci!les including the lawyer1client
relationshi!, the duty of com!etence, conflicts of interest, confidentiality, and
0
!rofessional disci!line. he #$# Model %ules of 4rofessional &onduct will "e the main
focus of the course illuminated "y the comments to the %ules and the %estatements. We
may occasionally discuss the exas 3isci!linary %ules of 4rofessional &onduct.
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