Legal Ethics and Legal Profession Research Guide

This guide focuses on the codes of professional ethics and ethics opinions from the American Bar Association and state bar associations. This guide also identifies resources for researching management of law offices and corporate legal departments.

Contents

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• Legal Ethics
  • Model Codes
  • State Codes
  • Ethics Opinions
  • Disciplinary Proceedings
  • Secondary Sources
  • Web Resources
  • Current Awareness
  • Law Firm Management
  • Diversity in the Legal Profession
  • Research Institutes

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  Model Codes

  For the purpose of legal research, there are two kinds of ethical codes in the United States: model codes and state codes. Model Codes are the ethical rules for lawyers proposed by the American Bar Association. These rules do not have the effect of law, but versions of these rules have been adopted and made into law by the states and the District of Columbia, which makes discussions and analyses of the model rules relevant to many local ethics proceedings.

  The current model codes are called the Model Rules of Professional Conduct, but previous codes have had different titles:

  • Model Rules of Professional Conduct (1983-present). These are the current model ethical rules of the American Bar Association (ABA).
  • Model Code of Professional Responsibility (1969-1983). This code was promulgated by the ABA in 1969 and adopted by courts in almost all states. Today, some states have not adopted the Model Rules of Professional Conduct and still have ethical codes based on this model code.
  • Canons of Professional Ethics (1908-1969). The first code of ethics adopted by the ABA. Widespread dissatisfaction with this code led the ABA to adopt a new code in 1969.

  Model Rules of Professional Conduct

  Promulgated in 1983 (KF305.A2 A4 1983) and adopted in some form by many states and the District of Columbia. An electronic version of the Model Rules is available on the ABA's website and on Lexis. Annotations and other information about the rules can be found in the sources listed below.

  • American Bar Association, Annotated Model Rules of Professional Conduct
    • Annotated Model Rules of Professional Conduct on Westlaw (9th ed. 2019)
    • Annotated Model Rules of Professional Conduct, print versions (KF305.A2 .A56)

    This annotated version contains the full text of the rules and provides extensive citations to cases, articles, and books discussing the issues arising under each rule.

    • ABA/Bloomberg Law Lawyers' Manual on Professional Conduct
      • Lawyers' Manual on Professional Conduct(KF305.A8 A116)
        • Regularly updated - includes (i) an unannotated copy of the Model Rules, (ii) a list of the states that have adopted all or part of the Model Rules, and (iii) a discussion of state variations in the Model Rules.
        • The Current Reports are an indexed guide to new opinions as they are issued and reports on legislative and administrative developments.​
        • ABA Ethics Opinions
        • Model Rules and Standards
        • Practice Guides Index
        • Practice Guides
        • State Ethics Opinions
        • Current Reports
        Call Number: KF305.A32 A16

        This "legislative history" of the Model Rules published by the ABA traces the language of and debate about the Model Rules as they proceeded through the House of Delegates in 1982 and 1983; information is arranged by rule number.