Applied Ethics - LAW 846

APPLIED ETHICS was created and developed from experiences on the Kentucky Bar Association ethics hotline, on the Board of Governors and as an officer (President in 2013-14.) It became obvious that attorneys involved in the discipline process often made the simplest of mistakes over and over – clients were being harmed, making complaints, and were filing lawsuits against their attorney not necessarily because the attorney lied, stole or cheated but because the attorney did not communicate, keep confidences, stay diligent or handle the money correctly. The goal of this class is to get to law students early, before they get caught up in the bar exam and job hunting ritual, so they have a firm grasp of reality, of common problems that are so easily avoided, and of the discipline process.

Students will be introduced to the types of situations practicing attorneys confront that require a working knowledge of professional conduct principles for successful resolution. Students will be alerted to the mistakes that most frequently result in formal discipline and to the areas of practice that create malpractice exposure. Students will receive instruction on the need to participate in self-regulation, how to participate and how to protect themselves. Students will be instructed on the unique position attorneys hold in the system of justice in the United States.