Legal Profession examines the activities and responsibilities of the lawyer and the lawyer’s relationship with clients, the legal profession, the courts, and the public. The course treats the lawyer’s fiduciary duty to clients, the provision of adequate legal services, and the reconciliation of the lawyer’s obligation to clients, in and out of court, with the demands of the proper administration of justice and the public interest. The course includes substantial instruction on the rules of professional conduct and provides essential preparation for the practice of law. Students will learn through, among other things, lectures (including asynchronous, recorded lectures), class discussions, actual case studies and discussions by leading attorneys in their fields. At the discretion of the Associate Dean, this course may be offered for either two or three credits. In Spring 2024, Professor Millemann’s section of Legal Profession is being offered for two or three credits and is limited to 30 students. The three credits will be for up to eight students who choose to write a “cert” paper that satisfies the Advanced Writing Requirement as part of the course. This paper will be completed in three drafts (with the third draft the final), with individualized instruction from the professor and four additional two-hour writing classes for these students. All students will take a final exam, but the grade for the students doing cert papers will be the higher of the exam or paper grade.

Students may not take both Legal Profession and Legal Profession/Reasoning & Rhetoric.