Lawyers: Roles, Skills and Responsibilities Third Edition

Lawyers: Roles, Skills and Responsibilities combines three texts from the Thomson Reuters catalogue.  In addition, students will find discussion questions and exercises to help them revise and for use in tutorial activities. Copies of the current NSW Solicitors’ and Barristers’ Rules are included in the back of the text as an additional resource.

This publication includes a comprehensive selection from the sixth edition of Gino Dal Pont’s text, Lawyers ‘ Professional Responsibility providing students with a guide to the sources of professional responsibility. This sits alongside selections from the second edition of Bobette Wolski’s textbook, Skills, Ethics and Values for Legal Practice that contextualise legal ethics and includes an introduction to essential communication skills. Also included are chapters from the third edition of Ros Macdonald and Deborah Clark-Dickson’s work, Clear and Precise Writing Skills for Today’s Lawyer.

These extracts are combined to complement the Legal Ethics units taught at Macquarie Law School. Together they provide an overview of the law of professional responsibility as well as practical examples of how good communication can overcome many of the hurdles faced by lawyers in their day to day dealings with clients, the court and third parties.

1. The Role of Skills, Ethics and Values in Legal Practice

2. Ethics, Values and Professional Responsibilities

3. Client Interviewing

4. Negotiation

5. What is Plain English?

6. Avoiding Legalese

7. Letter Writing

8. Admission to Practice

9. The Lawyer–Client Relationship

10. Duties to the Client and their Enforcement

11. Lawyers' Duty to Clients in Tort

12. Lawyer–Client Conflict and Influence

13. Concurrent Conflicts

14. Acting Against Former Clients

15. Confidentiality

16. Legal Professional Privilege

17. Costs Disclosure and Costs Agreements

18. Duty to the Court

19. Particular Applications of the Duty to the Administration of Justice

20. Duty to Obey and Uphold the Law

21. The Disciplinary Jurisdiction

22. Disciplinary Procedures

23. Types of Misconduct