Module LAW2154 for 2021/2
- Overview
- Aims and Learning Outcomes
- Module Content
- Indicative Reading List
- Assessment
Undergraduate Module Descriptor
LAW2154: Lawyers Ethics in the Real World
This module descriptor refers to the 2021/2 academic year.
Module Content
Syllabus Plan
Whilst the precise content may vary from year to year, it is anticipated that the syllabus will cover all or some of the following topics. Some topics may be delivered by guest lecturers.
- Personal and professional values and ethics
- Core elements of the Solicitors’ Code
- Behavioural and Institutional Understandings of Ethics
- Commerciality in practice and in one’s mind
- Lawyer and corporate governance
- The Best Interest of the Client and Misleading the court
- Dealing with others, Integrity and taking advantage
- Philosophical theories of ethics
- Principles vs Rules in Ethical Regulation
- Giving Advice and Opinions
- Papering deals in commercially aware ways
- Submitting evidence and appearing before the court
- Hierarchy and Sex in Legal Practice
- Non Disclosure Agreements
- Conducting Investigations
Learning and Teaching
This table provides an overview of how your hours of study for this module are allocated:
| Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities | Guided independent study | Placement / study abroad |
|---|---|---|
| 30 | 120 |
...and this table provides a more detailed breakdown of the hours allocated to various study activities:
| Category | Hours of study time | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Scheduled learning and teaching activities | 22 | 11 x 2 hour lectures |
| Scheduled learning and teaching activities | 8 | 4 x 2 hour seminars |
| Guided independent study | 65 | Reading, seminar, and lecture preparation |
| Guided independent study | 40 | Summative assessment preparation |
| Guided independent study | 15 | Formative assessment preparation |
Online Resources
This module has online resources available via ELE (the Exeter Learning Environment).
Indicative Reading List
This reading list is indicative - i.e. it provides an idea of texts that may be useful to you on this module, but it is not considered to be a confirmed or compulsory reading list for this module.
Jonathan Herring, Legal Ethics (2nd edition, OUP Oxford 2017).
Richard Moorhead, ‘Independence Play – Chilcot on the Legal Process | Lawyer Watch’ https://lawyerwatch.wordpress.com/2016/07/07/independence-play-chilcot-on-the-legal-process/
Maryam Kouchaki and others, ‘Seeing Green: Mere Exposure to Money Triggers a Business Decision Frame and Unethical Outcomes’ (2013) 121 Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes 53
Richard Moorhead and Victoria Hinchly, ‘Professional Minimalism? The Ethical Consciousness of Commercial Lawyers’ (2015) 42 Journal of Law and Society 387
Steven Vaughan and Emma Oakley, ‘“Gorilla Exceptions” and the Ethically Apathetic Corporate Lawyer’ (2016) 19 Legal Ethics 50
Christine Parker, ‘Critical Morality for Lawyers: Four Approaches to Lawyers’ Ethics, A’ (2004) 30 Monash University Law Review 49
Richard Moorhead, Steven Vaughan and Cristina Godhino, In-House Lawyers’ Ethics: Institutional Logics, Legal Risk and the Tournament of Influence: (Hart Bloomsbury 2018)
Donald C Langevoort, ‘Chasing the Greased Pig Down Wall Street: A Gatekeeper’s Guide to the Psychology, Culture, and Ethics of Financial Risk Taking’ (2010) 96 Cornell L. Rev. 1209
David Kershaw and Richard Moorhead, ‘Consequential Responsibility for Client Wrongs: Lehman Brothers and the Regulation of the Legal Profession’ (2013) 76 The Modern Law Review 26
Christine E Parker, Robert Eli Rosen and Vibeke Lehmann Nielsen, ‘The Two Faces of Lawyers: Professional Ethics and Business Compliance With Regulation’(2009)’ 22 Georgetown Journal of Legal Ethics 201
