Center for Legal Ethics and Professionalism

Legal Writing and Analysis

All students at the Law School are required to take Legal Analysis and two semesters of Legal Writing. The Law School's focus on ethics and professionalism is apparent in these courses. In Legal Analysis, the students survey the ethical responsibilities of a lawyer in a predictive role, including the duties of competence, diligence, promptness, confidentiality, and loyalty. The class also covers the counseling of clients with respect to moral, social and political factors and the roles of the lawyer when the client may be planning to engage in criminal or fraudulent activity. In Legal Writing, the students review the general ethical provisions relating to written advocacy, including the duties to avoid mistatements of law or fact, to disclose controlling, adverse authority, and to communicate with the judge only through proper channels.