Law 792:  Compliance, Ethics, and Professional Responsibility

Corporate compliance and ethics, with an emphasis on professional responsibility in practice, is one of the most exciting and fastest growing global markets for legal services.  With increasing frequency, lawyers are tasked with drafting, implementing, and managing corporate compliance and ethics programs.  This class will explore the reasons for as well as the structure and implementation of such programs. We will focus on the roles in-house and law firm lawyers play in compliance and ethics risk assessment as well as designing and implementing effective and complementary ethics and compliance programs. Topics to be covered include global anti-bribery and corruption, conflicts of interest, and human rights/modern slavery.

Students will examine and discuss a variety of readings and related materials, including news reports of current compliance challenges and failures. The class will include live and video lectures by academics, corporate counsel, senior ethics and compliance officers, and business executives in order to provide students with a better understanding of the challenges of implementing an effective global compliance program. Corporate visits with interactive Q-and-A also will be part of the class.

Course Materials:  Course materials will consist of topical books and white papers/reports, relevant statutes and regulations, scholarly articles, cases, government enforcement guidance, corporate codes of conduct and related materials, and news articles covering timely compliance, ethics, and professional responsibility topics.

Sequence and Prerequisites: None

Evaluation: Short responsive papers and written assignments, class participation and leadership, and a final presentation/project. There will not be a final examination.