Lawyers: Business and ethics

This unit considers how lawyers do, can, and should behave in business, for clients and as in-house counsel. Distinct from compulsory ethics units, this unit will examine what it means for lawyers to be increasingly commercial or results-oriented, whether in private practice, in-house, or in government lawyers in their responsibility for, reputational, legal and regulatory risk management. An increasingly demanding skill-set also challenges independence and ethicality. We will consider and explore that skillset, how ethical challenges arise, and what the responses to those can and should be, looking beyond law and philosophy approaches to ethics to examine behavioural, organisational, and economic influences on lawyers. Working with real-life case studies and allowing students to explore their own values as preparation for the world of law and business.