Ethical Lawyering: A Guide for the Well-Intentioned - 2nd Edition - Bernard A. Burk

Ethical Lawyering: A Guide for the Well-Intentioned 2nd Edition Bernard A. Burk ISBN 9798892074384

Professional Responsibility is a required course that professors often find challenging to teach and students frequently approach with reluctance. The subject matter can feel simultaneously obvious and highly technical, and traditional PR casebooks—laden with dense, dated, or incomplete judicial opinions—often make engagement even harder. This coursebook directly addresses those challenges by reimagining how Professional Responsibility is taught and learned.

Rather than relying on impenetrable cases, the book adopts a flipped-classroom approach, providing clear, thorough explanations of the Model Rules of Professional Conduct paired with thoughtfully designed problems for class discussion. These problems ask students to apply the Rules to realistic practice scenarios, encouraging active learning and deeper understanding. The structure is flexible and works seamlessly in both in-person and online courses.

The book emphasizes statutory interpretation skills, helping students learn how to read and analyze the Model Rules and then apply those skills to common—and difficult—practice situations. Coverage extends beyond professional discipline to include civil liability, court sanctions, and informal but critical concerns such as client relationships, reputational harm, and the business realities of law practice.

New to the Second Edition

• New and expanded discussion of recent doctrinal developments, including:

  • The impact of artificial intelligence and emerging technologies on legal ethics

  • Authoritative interpretations of the Model Rules found in recent ABA Formal Ethics Opinions and state and local bar opinions

  • The implications of amendments to Model Rule 1.16 addressing mandatory abstention or withdrawal when a client may misuse a lawyer’s work product in unlawful conduct

• Materials designed to align courses with updated ABA Standards 303(b) and (c), including expanded discussion of:

  • Professional identity formation

  • Lawyer well-being and the stresses of legal practice

  • Cross-cultural competence

  • Ethical issues related to equal opportunity in legal education, bar admission, and employment

Benefits for Instructors and Students

• A statutory-construction approach to the Model Rules that builds strong text-interpretation skills

• Digital edition features that allow students to view Model Rules, Comments, and other statutes side-by-side with the book’s analysis with a single click

• A comprehensive, clickable Glossary defining recurring terms of art

• Clear “Signposts” throughout the text highlighting recurring ethical themes, including Taming the Text, Rule Roles, Reason for the Rule, Consequences, Real World, Tips & Tactics, and Your House; Your Rules

• Realistic, practice-based problems drawn from the authors’ extensive experience, exposing students to common pitfalls while reinforcing doctrinal learning

• “Big-Picture Takeaways” at the end of each chapter summarizing key concepts

• MPRE-style multiple-choice questions at the end of each chapter to support exam preparation

• A comprehensive treatment of the law governing lawyers, illustrating connections among professional discipline, tort law (fiduciary duty and malpractice), contract law (engagement agreements and scope of representation), agency law (authority), and procedural sanctions, as well as informal concerns like client relations and reputation

• An informal, irreverent, and conversational writing style designed to resonate with Millennial and Gen Z students, drawing them into the subject by placing them directly into the realistic “hot seat” scenarios they are likely to face in practice

Ethical Lawyering: A Guide for the Well-Intentioned 2nd Edition Bernard A. Burk ISBN 9798892074384, 979-8892074384 & 9798892074391

Authors
Bernard A. Burk
Veronica J. Finkelstein
Nancy B. Rapoport