Legal Ethics

Who would or should defend a potential murderer in court? How do professions regulate themselves? Is 'no win-no fee' an ethical system? Where is the line in a 'suitable' client-advocate relationship? Jonathan Herring provides a clear and engaging overview of legal ethics, highlighting that the issues surrounding professional conduct are not always black and white and raising interesting questions about how lawyers act and what their role entails. Key topics, such as confidentiality, negligence, and fees are covered, with references throughout to the professional codes of conduct. Features throughout the textbook to aid student learning include the highlighting of key cases, principles, and definitions; the inclusion of a variety of viewpoints through coverage of cases, popular media, and scholarly articles; and use inclusion of 'digging deeper' and 'alternative viewpoint' boxes which encourage critical reflection and better understanding of key theories and topics. The well developed online resource centre includes Podcasts linked to the 'what would you do' chapter features, video debates, relevant updates and web links.

1: Ethical theories 2: The social context of the legal profession 3: The regulation of the legal profession 4: The lawyer-client relationship 5: Confidentiality 6: Conflicts of interests 7: Fees 8: Negligence and lawyers 9: Litigation 10: Alternative dispute resolution 11: Third parties 12: Business ethics 13: Lawyers' social responsibilities 14: Gender, race, and diversity in the legal profession 15: Applying legal theories