LW352-6-FY-CO:
Legal Ethics and Justice
2023/24
Essex Law School
Colchester Campus
Full Year
Undergraduate: Level 6
Current
Thursday 05 October 2023
Friday 28 June 2024
30
19 October 2023
Requisites for this module
(none)
(none)
(none)
(none)
(none)
This module focuses questions of ethics and justice raised by legal practice. It is designed to provide students with the ethical frameworks necessary to equip them to provide legal services to community members as an adviser with the University of Essex Law Clinic, as well as to explore issues of access to justice raised by the sort of problems which lead people to seek out the help of the Clinic.
This module is run as part of the Law Clinic therefore students must be a member of the Law Clinic before they can choose it.
The module aims:
1. To provide students with an introduction to the ethical issues which arise in law clinics and legal practice, the theoretical resources to resolve them and opportunities to explore how they should be resolved.
2. To provide students with an introduction to issues of access to justice which arise in law clinics and lgal practices designed to ensure services to those most in need.
3. To provide students with an appreciation of the ethical, social and political context in which legal services are provided.
4. To introduce students to the practice of reflection on experience in order to improve their performance and understanding of legal work.
5. To provide students with practice in arguing for particular positions on ethics and access to justice.
On completion of this module the students should be able to:
1. Understand and critically evaluate the core ethical and professional principles governing the provision of legal services
2. Understand and critically evaluate the context in which these core ethical and professional principles governing the provision of legal services operate
3.. Engage in critical reflection on the performance of relevant legal and educational activities.
4. Confidently adopt and defend positions on legal ethics and access to justice.
Reflection on the ethics of the legal profession will involve looking at the most important ethical principles governing legal practice such as confidentiality and the avoidance of conflicts of interest and some of the most controversial debates such as whether lawyers should pursue immoral goals or use unethical means to achieve client goals, whether clients should be allowed to make 'irrational decisions' and whether lawyers owe duties to ensure equal access to justice. Related to this issue is the current position as regards access to justice and possible means of redressing current problems. The module will also consider strategies for putting values into action in the legal professional setting.
This module is taught via two-hour seminars. The module teaching team will produce and make available on Moodle short guidance notes. The notes will also contain tips designed both to help you navigate the material to be covered in the lectures and and to equip you to analyse the required readings. You will be expected to have completed the required readings in advance of your seminars. Your seminars will enable you to discuss the material covered and the required readings, obtain feedback on your pre-class preparation and deepen your understanding of key concepts.
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Herring, J. (2017) ‘The Social Context of the Legal Profession’, in
Legal Ethics. 2nd ed. [Oxford]: Oxford University Press. Available at:
https://doi.org/10.1093/he/9780198788928.003.0002.
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Paterson, A. (2012)
Lawyers and the public good: democracy in action? Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Available at:
https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/lawyers-and-the-public-good/25C90654A9110FE9513C5139ECAD7BFB.
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Abel, R.L. et al. (eds) (2020) Lawyers in 21st-Century Societies. Oxford: Hart Publishing.
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Nicolson, D. and Webb, J. (2000) ‘The Social Context: Professional Ideals and Institutional Settings’, in
Professional Legal Ethics: Critical Interrogations. Oxford University Press, pp. 51–83. Available at:
https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198764717.003.0003.
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Paterson, A.A. (1996) ‘Professionalism and the legal services market’,
International Journal of the Legal Profession, 3(1-2), pp. 137–168. Available at:
https://heinonline.org/HOL/P?h=hein.journals/injlepro3&i=133.
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Boon, A. (2014b) ‘Power’, in
The Ethics and Conduct of Lawyers in England and Wales. Third edition. Oxford, United Kingdom: Hart Publishing. Available at:
https://doi.org/10.5040/9781849469746.ch-003.
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Donald Nicolson (2012) ‘Access to justice and the legal profession’, SCOLAG Journal, 416, pp. 133–136.
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Nicolson, D. (2015) ‘Legal education, ethics and access to justice: forging warriors for justice in a neo-liberal world’,
International Journal of the Legal Profession, 22(1), pp. 51–69. Available at:
https://doi.org/10.1080/09695958.2015.1047840.
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Nicolson, D. (2013) ‘Calling, Character and Clinical Legal Education: A Cradle to Grave Approach to Inculcating a Love for Justice’,
Legal ethics, 16(1), pp. 36–56. Available at:
https://doi.org/10.5235/1460728X.1.1.36.
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Rhode, D.L. (1999) ‘Cultures of Commitment: Pro Bono for Lawyers and Law Students’,
Fordham Law Review, 67(5), pp. 2415–2447. Available at:
https://heinonline.org/HOL/P?h=hein.journals/flr67&i=2431.
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Nicolson, D. and Webb, J.S. (1999c)
Professional legal ethics: critical interrogations. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Available at:
https://dx.doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198764717.001.0001.
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Dare, Tim (2004) ‘Mere-Zeal, Hyper-Zeal and the Ethical Obligations of Lawyers’,
Legal Ethics, 7(1). Available at:
https://heinonline.org/HOL/P?h=hein.journals/lethics7&i=24.
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Nicolson, D. and Webb, J.S. (1999a) ‘Confidentiality’, in
Professional Legal Ethics: Critical Interrogations. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 248–276. Available at:
https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198764717.003.0009.
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Boon, A. (2014d)
The ethics and conduct of lawyers in England and Wales. Third edtion. Oxford, United Kingdom: Hart Publishing. Available at:
https://doi.org/10.5040/9781849469746?locatt=label:secondary_bloomsburyCollections.
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Nicolson, D. and Webb, J.S. (1999b) ‘Duties to the Client: Autonomy and Control in the Lawyer-Client Relationship’, in
Professional Legal Ethics: Critical Interrogations. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 123–159. Available at:
https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198764717.003.0005.
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Simon, William H. (1991) ‘Lawyer Advice and Client Autonomy: Mrs. Jones’s Case’,
Maryland Law Review, 50(1), pp. 213–226. Available at:
https://heinonline.org/HOL/P?h=hein.journals/mllr50&i=225.
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Tremblay, Paul R. (1987) ‘On Persuasion and Paternalism: Lawyer Decisionmaking and the Questionably Competent Client’,
Utah Law Review, (3), pp. 515–584. Available at:
https://heinonline.org/HOL/P?h=hein.journals/utahlr1987&i=517.
The above list is indicative of the essential reading for the course.
The library makes provision for all reading list items, with digital provision where possible, and these resources are shared between students.
Further reading can be obtained from this module's
reading list.
Assessment items, weightings and deadlines
| Coursework / exam |
Description |
Deadline |
Coursework weighting |
| Coursework |
Final Diary Submission |
|
30% |
| Coursework |
Written Exercise (LW352 Legal Ethics) |
|
20% |
| Coursework |
Portfolio (LW352 Legal Ethics) |
|
50% |
Exam format definitions
- Remote, open book: Your exam will take place remotely via an online learning platform. You may refer to any physical or electronic materials during the exam.
- In-person, open book: Your exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may refer to any physical materials such as paper study notes or a textbook during the exam. Electronic devices may not be used in the exam.
- In-person, open book (restricted): The exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may refer only to specific physical materials such as a named textbook during the exam. Permitted materials will be specified by your department. Electronic devices may not be used in the exam.
- In-person, closed book: The exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may not refer to any physical materials or electronic devices during the exam. There may be times when a paper dictionary,
for example, may be permitted in an otherwise closed book exam. Any exceptions will be specified by your department.
Your department will provide further guidance before your exams.
Overall assessment
Reassessment
Module supervisor and teaching staff
Mr Lee Hansen, email: l.hansen@essex.ac.uk.
Law Education Office, lawschoolug@essex.ac.uk
No
No
No
Travel costs for UK - based unpaid, approved work placements and live projects which are an integral part of a module may be covered by your department. (NB this will usually exclude field trips and site visits). Please check with your module supervisor to ensure that the activity is eligible.
Prof Richard Grimes
University of Edinburgh
Visiting Professor
Available via Moodle
Of 23 hours, 19 (82.6%) hours available to students:
0 hours not recorded due to service coverage or fault;
4 hours not recorded due to opt-out by lecturer(s), module, or event type.
Essex Law School
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