During your 1L year, no one focuses on legal ethics that much. It’s just a another hazy law-related thing that you’ll concern yourself with sometime during your second year, just like administrative or corporate law. But after you take that step into 2L year? Legal ethics permeates EVERYTHING.
I took Legal Ethics, aka “Legal Profession,” last year, my 2L year. I did “my time.” At least, I thought I had. But the class portion of my Semester in Practice, SiP, was all about ethics. My comparative law class, discussed ethics yesterday. My environmental ADR class, discussed ethics and moral philosophy. My negotiation class? Ethics was the first topic of the class. Every single activity or class in my final time at law school involves Legal Profession class-type scenarios and references to the model rules.
No one likes their legal ethics class, mainly because it is a required course and there are no real answers. If a student has not yet realized that the law has very pliable standards, and few bright-line rules, this is the one class that will finally break even the most flexible student. A student MUST become comfortable with the attorney axiomatic answer of “it depends.” I’m not actually sure the rules exist for any purpose but to confuse attorneys and cause law students trepidation at the actual practice of law. But it is so pervasive! I had a great supervisor during my SiP, and half of our discussions turned to the professional ethics of our actions. Yikes. It was a great thing to take that class prior to sending me off into the real world of an internship.
So, I think I get it, legal ethics really is something that attorneys constantly need to be be wary of, and considerate to. I get it, I get it. Can I get onto my substantive lessons now? Wait, ANOTHER ethics discussion?! I better know the Model Rules backwards and forwards by the time I take the MPRE in March. Three more months of ethics discussion catching me unawares? I won’t have any excuse.
