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Legal Ethics and Professional Responsibility: A Guide for the Busy 1L: Home

Last Updated: Feb 19, 2024 12:24 PM

CALI LESSONS

CALI lessons allow you to work through the rules of Professional Responsibility in an interactive format in which you answer questions and explain your reasoning.  If you are confused or have questions about an issue, a CALI lesson may provide a quick way to test and improve your knowledge.

Here are a few Legal Ethics Lessons that are helpful for 1Ls. A complete list of Legal Ethics related lessons is available at the CALI website.

LEGAL ETHICS & PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITY STUDY AIDS

Hornbooks and other study aids provide additional perspectives and clarifications to your assigned reading. However, researchers should not rely on them exclusively.

Titles located in the Law Library's Study Aids collection are shelved on the bookcase to your right as you enter the Law Library.

STANDARDS FOR LAWYERS

In the United States, the individual states regulate lawyers and the legal profession and have adopted their own codes of ethics for lawyers. However, see the ABA Model Rules and Codes listed below for influential sources of standards for lawyers.

MODEL CODES AND STANDARDS

ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct
These serve as a basis for state lawyer ethics codes. Available:


Annotated Model Rules of Professional Conduct
Includes citations to cases and secondary sources. Available:


ABA Model Code of Judicial Conduct
Establishes standards for the ethical conduct of judges and judicial candidates. Available:


Annotated Model Code of Judicial Conduct
Includes citations to cases and secondary sources, Available:


Restatement of the Law (Third): The Law Governing Lawyers
Restatements in themselves have no precedential value, although they can acquire precedential value to the extent that courts recognize and adopt particular provisions. Available:
Law Library KF 300 .R473 2000 (current edition in Reference and General Collection)


Other Resources

ABA/BNA Lawyer's Manual on Professional Conduct
Contains the full-text of the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct, links to state ethics rules, ethics opinions from the ABA, news items, and much more. Available:

ABA Compendium of Professional Responsibility: Rules and Standards
Includes the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct, the Model Code of Professional Responsibility, the Model Code of Judicial Conduct, ABA Canons of Professional Ethics, selected Federal Rules and Standards, selected ABA Ethics Opinions and more. Available:
Law Library KF 306 .A733 (current edition in Reference and General Collection)

Regulation of Lawyers: Statutes and Standards
Compiles model codes and standards, judicial conduct materials, selected federal provisions, and selected professional conduct/responsibility statutes for California, Washington, D.C., and New York. Available:
Law Library KF 305 .A15 R44 (current edition in Reference and General Collection)

Please note, Lexis, Westlaw and Bloomberg Law are available to Law Students and Law Faculty only.

KOREN AV RESOURCES ON LEGAL ETHICS & PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITY

The Koren AV Center, located on the Fifth floor of the Law Library, provides audio lectures on Professional Responsibility

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