Undergraduate Module Descriptor

LAW3202: Lawyers Ethics in the Real World

This module descriptor refers to the 2021/2 academic year.

Module Aims

The module aims to provide you with knowledge and understanding of the professional codes of conduct, and practice in applying the codes to ethical dilemmas that have arisen in real world case studies taken from practice. Through the case studies it also explores real examples of the key stages of a lawyer’s work such as: taking on clients; preparing cases; giving advice and opinions; preparing documents such as contracts and NDAs; conducting independent investigations; and appearing before courts and tribunals.

A further aim of the module is to give you insight into how the behaviour of lawyers links to key incidents of public interest, such as: the financial crisis of 2008; the Hacking scandals; and the suppression of sexual harassment highlighted by the #MeToo movement.

Finally, through a consideration of the context of these scandals and the social scientific literature on ethical decision-making, you will explore the personal and institutional influences on professional behaviour. As such the module aims to lay the intellectual groundwork for a life in practice or elsewhere as an ethically informed professional.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

This module's assessment will evaluate your achievement of the ILOs listed here – you will see reference to these ILO numbers in the details of the assessment for this module.
On successfully completing the programme you will be able to:
Module-Specific Skills1. Demonstrate a detailed, accurate and persuasive understanding of the Standards and Regulation of solicitors and their practical application.
2. Discuss and effectively relate the main roles of lawyers in the courts, business, and other settings to ethical problems.
3. Competently articulate and discuss the importance of some of the social, economic, and psychological influences on lawyers decision-making.
Discipline-Specific Skills4. Apply legal knowledge accurately and persuasively to complex problems and apply judgement when presented with competing imperatives.
Personal and Key Skills5. Effectively articulate and discuss one’s own ethical inclinations and the cultures of organisations.
6. Develop and effectively communicate complex arguments and opinions with limited guidance.

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) accessed 29 October 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