The Legal Profession: Corporate Practice (REQ 450) (3)

Professor Tanina Rostain

This course, which satisfies the Legal Profession requirement, uses corporate practice to explore the ethical responsibilities of lawyers. A large proportion of lawyers practice law in organizations and have organizations, primarily corporations, as clients. Navigating the landscape of the large law firm and the corporation requires awareness of the distinctive experience of lawyers involved in this work. This course examines the laws, regulations and rules of ethics that govern lawyers' conduct in the context of corporate practice. In particular, it considers the ethical and legal challenges that arise in corporate work, including incorporation, securities and regulatory counseling and compliance, transactions, civil litigation, internal investigations and criminal defense. By the end of the course, students will have an in-depth understanding of the Rules of Professional Conduct and the other law that applies to lawyers who represent corporations.
Along the way, this course covers the standard topics in the professional responsibility curriculum, including confidentiality, conflicts of interests, and duties to third-parties and tribunals and prepares students to take the Multi-State Professional Responsibility Examination.