Legal Ethics and the Profession

Upon their admittance to practice, new attorneys agree to abide by their jurisdiction's ethical rules. For most states, this means upholding some version of the ABA's Model Rules of Professional Conduct, which prescribes standards of legal ethics and professional responsibility for lawyers. However, despite the existence of these rules, and all lawyers’ agreement to follow them, violations of the rules are not exactly uncommon. On today’s Lawyer 2 Lawyer, host Craig Williams is joined by Deborah L. Rhode, the Ernest W. McFarland Professor of Law and the director of the Center on the Legal Profession at Stanford Law School, and Scott Cummings, the Robert Henigson Professor of Legal Ethics and professor of law at UCLA School of Law, as they explore legal ethics in today's world, the value of adhering to the ethical rules, and what lawyers can do to maintain the reputation of the profession. Special thanks to our sponsors, Blue J Legal.