Professional Responsibility - Criminal Law Ethics

This course addresses the history, goals, structure, values, and responsibilities of the legal profession and its members with a particular focus within the context of criminal law. The primary goal of this course is for students to learn the Model Rules of Professional Conduct and be able to apply them to situations involving ethical issues.  Students will study ethics pertaining to the individual such as the duties of the defense lawyer, prosecutors’ ethics, judges’ ethics, and the limits of zealous representation; issues relating to client representation such as counseling, client autonomy, lawyer-client trust and confidence, confidentiality, and client perjury; and ethics relating to trial such as preparing witnesses and cross-examination.