Continuing the tradition that has made it a leader in its field, this casebook uses problems to provide an overview of lawyers' professional responsibility. One of the most rapidly changing fields in American law, professional responsibility sees new issues, rules and cases each year, all of which are covered in this book. The authors have carefully designed this Twelfth Edition to be familiar to long time users, and accessible to new ones. It continues its tradition of offering the most usable and up-to-date course materials to teach legal ethics and the law governing the practice of law.
Since the last edition, published in 2011, the law has changed considerably. There have been:
substantial changes in the ABA Rules of Professional Conduct adopted from the proposals of the ABA Ethics 20/20 Commission. Such changes include modifications to the confidentiality rules, the rules governing outsourcing, the choice of law regarding which professional responsibility rule to use, and provisions addressing contact with prospective clients.
a complete update reflecting the significant changes in the legal profession that have affected law firms, lawyers, and law students.
a substantial revision of the material dealing with advertising and solicitation.
new court decisions and ethics opinions — in particular, dealing with conflicts of interest, imputed disqualifications, and ethics related to the internet, chat rooms, electronic discovery, etc.