Legal Ethics

Group	Teacher	Department	Language
Year 1	Ignacio Rigau Tusell	Derecho	ENG
Year 1	Marc Delgado Mañez	Derecho	ENG

COURSE CONTRIBUTION TO PROGRAM

Legal professionals hold the privilege of being, not mere recipients, but gears of the functioning of the legal system. One may say that they have a very particular impact on the economic, political, and constitutional life of a country. The interpretation, the concretion or the bending of the Law have direct influence on the expression of our legal rights and duties. This specific position asks from legal professionals to adhere to a set of rules that should bind them when acting as agents of the law. This course aims to teach our students not as much as to be ethical, but to be conscious decision-makers

Course Learning Objectives

The course main objectives are:
- Understanding the key foundations of the legal in a liberal democracy.
- Providing students with a general understanding of the ethical approaches that have been discussed in the field of professional ethics.
- Acquiring the capacity to analyze critically some of the major ethical issues that are shaping the current legal debate in Spain.
- Providing students with tools to dissect the implications of professional choice.
- Applying the ethical theories discussed in class to practical cases in which legal agents are faced with ethical decisions.
- Providing students with an updated view of the problems that legal agents -be them corporate lawyers, judges or scholars- may face today.
This course is philosophical in nature, so its not strictly limited to any national jurisdiction or system of law.

CONTENT

1. The Political Community and Obedience to the Law
2. Liberal Democracy and the Law
3. Fundamental Rights and the Legal Order
4. Rules-based Approaches to Ethics and Consequentialism
5. Virtue Ethics and Ethics of Care
6. Dominant Theories in Legal Ethics: Zealousness and Amorality
7. Current Ethical Debates in Spanish Law: Abortion
8. Current Ethical Debates in Spanish Law: AI
9. Ethical Decision-Making: the Particularity of Professional Morals
10. Legal Activism
11. Professionalism and the Risk of Corporatism

1. The Political Community and Obedience to the Law

2. Liberal Democracy and the Law

3. Fundamental Rights and the Legal Order

4. Rules-based Approaches to Ethics and Consequentialism

5. Virtue Ethics and Ethics of Care

6. Dominant Theories in Legal Ethics: Zealousness and Amorality

7. Current Ethical Debates in Spanish Law: Abortion

8. Current Ethical Debates in Spanish Law: AI

9. Ethical Decision-Making: the Particularity of Professional Morals

10. Legal Activism

11. Professionalism and the Risk of Corporatism

Methodology

With the exception of the initial sessions, devoted to the foundations of the current legal order, this course will be eminently practical. However, students will have to do some readings and research on their part. Although our intention is to cycle back and reexamine theoretical concepts throughout the course, all sessions will depart from a previous reading (be it conceptual or a case study). Our intention is not to bury students in readings but to efficiently provide them with the elements of discussion necessary to better cope with the notions dissected in class.

Materials will be provided to the students: not all of them shall consist of academic papers; the width of the matter of study (and the legal profession, for that matter) allows us to consult other sources such as videos, news or documentaries.

Discussion will be an integral part of the sessions, to identify: the ethical decision at stake; the moral foundation in which it stands on; and the nuances that every case may bring to the table.

Attendance and active student participation are crucial components of the course, and they will be reflected in the final grade. Students can miss up to two sessions without having to justify their absence. Any student missing three sessions or more has to expect a significant reduction in their final grade.

Assessment criteria

Attendance is mandatory. Failure to attend without an adequate justification at least 80% of the sessions will result in exclusion from taking the ordinary exam. Students failing to attend without an adequate justification at least 50% of the sessions shall be excluded from sitting for the extraordinary exam and shall instead be required to retake the course in full.
The final grade will be the result of adding three elements:
Continuous evaluation:
- Class participation (25%): It reflects student performance in activities requiring active participation.
- Reaction papers (25%): Students will write short comments reflecting on given cases or ethical dilemmas.
Final exam:
- Final exam (50%).

Bibliography

- Donald Nicolson & Julian Webb, "The Philosophical Context: theoretical Approaches to the Content and Status of Ethics", in Professional Legal Ethics, OUP, 1999.
- Kenneth Kipnis, "Ethics and the Professional Responsibility of Lawyers?, Journal of Business Ethics, 10 (1991).
- Richard Wasserstrom, "Lawyers as Professionals: Some Moral Issues?, in Luban (ed.), The Ethics of Lawyers, Dartmouth, 1994.
- David Luban, "The Structure of Role Morality?, in Lawyers and Justice, Princeton University Press, 1988.
- David Luban, "The Adversary System Excuse?, in Legal Ethics and Human Dignity, Cambridge University Press, 2007.
- Bradley Wendel, "Professionalism as Interpretation?, Northwestern University Law Review, 99 (2005).

Type:	OPT	Curs:	1	Period:	S semester
ECTS Credits:	4 ECTS

Legal Ethics (2235.YR.014087.1)

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