Seminar Topical Research Guides

A brief note on the Model Rules of Professional Conduct:

American Bar Association (ABA) Rules of Professional Conduct
The ABA hosts a freely available copy of the Model Rules for Professional Conduct (without annotations) on the organization's website.  This includes Jurisdictional Rules Comparison Charts to compare rules between states.

In addition, Westlaw has the ABA Annotated Model Rules of Professional Conduct available:

• Westlaw ABA Annotated Model Rules of Professional Conduct (Westlaw password required)

Bloomberg (Bloomberg password required)

ABA/Bloomberg Law Lawyers’ Manual on Professional Conduct
The ABA/Bloomberg Law Lawyers' Manual on Professional Conduct is a suite of useful information for legal researchers looking into attorney ethics.  It contains legal ethics news, ABA ethics opinions, state and local ethics opinions, a 50-state interactive ethics map, ethics practice guides, and treatises.

Lexis (Lexis+ password required)

Lexis+ Legal Ethics Homepage
Lexis has compiled a suite of information related to professional responsibility and ethics for attorneys including secondary sources, ethics opinions (federal and local), administrative guidance, pleadings, forms, and news.

Westlaw (Westlaw password required)

Practical Law: Professional Responsibility, Development, & Skills
This Practical Law note gives summary overviews and links to conflicts of interest, social media ethics, private client data, ethics for in-house counsel, third-party litigation financing, attorney-client privilege, artificial intelligence, and much more. 

Legal & Judicial Ethics & Decisions
Westlaw provides a homepage for users to search for the most recent opinions and guidance on attorney and judicial ethics. 

Bloomberg (Bloomberg password required)

Bloomberg BNA - Legal Malpractice Litigation (Bureau of National Affairs, 2020)
The book is organized entirely around the practical realities of legal malpractice litigation and includes discussion of the fast-growing area of claims by non-clients as well client claims. Legal Malpractice Litigation also provides state-by-state coverage of all important areas where jurisdictions significantly differ.

Lexis+ (Lexis password required)

The Ethics of Representing Organizations (Lawrence Fox & Susan J. Martyn Whether, 2013)
This unique treatise provides information on attorneys representing organizations, whether a company, organization, entity, family business, a publicly held corporation, non-profit, or even the government. The client in such cases is a construct - a legal fiction - that often operates through many individuals with different roles, views, and interests, and therefore requires an attorney to consider any number of special professional-responsibility issues. 

Westlaw Treatises (Westlaw password required)

Legal Malpractice (Ronald E. Mallen, 2022)
Legal Malpractice goes beyond the law and litigation of legal malpractice claims to examine all subjects concerning lawyers' professional liability and responsibility, including disqualification, sanctions, fee disputes, vicarious liability, and liability to non-clients and former clients.

Professional Responsibility in Criminal Defense Practice (John Wesley Hall, Jr., 2021)
This is a practice-oriented guide that addresses the problems faced by attorneys when serving as criminal defense counsel. It provides trial guidance for striking the correct balance between duty to the client under the Sixth Amendment representing a client's interests, yet obeying the law and maintaining a profitable practice.

Print Resources (available in the Ross-Blakley Law Library)

Professional Responsibility in Litigation (Douglas R. Richmond, 1958-present)
This American Bar Association publication addresses the numerous and significant professional responsibility challenges in litigation, this compendium traces the ethical issues in the life of a lawsuit from start to finish. In discussing the various subjects, the authors broadly define “professional responsibility” to include not only legal ethics but also the related issues of sanctions and professional liability.

ABA Center for Professional Responsibility
The Center for Professional Responsibility provides national leadership in developing and interpreting standards and scholarly resources in legal and judicial ethics, professional regulation, professionalism and client protection.

Additional Legal Ethics and Professional Responsibility Resources
Within this subsection of the ABA's website is a guide to each state, international resources, law schools, organizations and journals focusing on professional responsibility and legal ethics.

Thomas Woodward Houghton 50 State Ethics Guide
This interactive map from the Tarlton Law Library collects key information about legal ethics and professional responsibility from across the country. The map links to key state resources on legal ethics codes, regulations, and opinions.

The reference librarians at the Ross-Blakley Law Library are happy to help you find or navigate research resources. Librarians are available 9am-4pm Monday-Thursday and 9am-2pm on Friday.

Reference:  (480) 965-7161
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Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law (COL) Students

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