Core Practice | DEV-College of Law | Illinois

694: Professional Responsibility in Advocacy

Krista Gaedtke — Wed, 26 Mar 2025 21:56:16 +0000

Today’s legal practice allows attorneys to practice advocacy in a variety of forums. Attorneys may advocate in trial courtrooms, in appellate courtrooms, or in administrative hearings. They are likely also to advocate through alternative dispute resolution forums, such as negotiations, arbitrations, and mediations. No matter where an attorney advocates, there is an expectation that the advocate be professional. This course examines what professionalism entails and requires in the advocacy space. It asks the following questions: (1) How do we define professionalism? (2) Why is professionalism required in advocacy? (3) What professional rules of ethics are unique to the advocacy space? (4) Does the requirement of professionalism for advocates serve a gatekeeping function, keeping non-traditional advocates outside the advocacy space? (5) What are the boundaries of zealous advocacy? (6) Does professionalism also require an advocate to be a public citizen? If so, what does that entail? (7) What professional responsibility requirements may an advocate have that go beyond the Professional Rules of Ethics; specifically, what consideration should be given to an advocate’s own personal morality and ethics in advocating for her clients?

Students will explore these questions through engagement with case studies, case law, the Model Rules of Professional Conduct, guest speakers, and media representations of advocates. Students should leave the course understanding the unique responsibilities placed upon advocates and how best to both advocate for their clients and maintain their professional and personal ethical and moral obligations.

This course is eligible to satisfy the Professional Responsibility and Ethics course requirement for graduation.

Sequence and Prerequisites: None

Evaluation: Grades will be based on written assignments, classroom participation, performance in exercises, and a take home final examination.

792: Technical Literacy for Lawyers

Krista Gaedtke — Fri, 16 Mar 2018 17:31:11 +0000

This course is intended for students with a limited technical background and will examine various concepts relating to technology, including: practical computing skills, privacy and security, artificial intelligence, cryptocurrencies, net neutrality, and other current events relating to technology.

Sequence and Prerequisites: None.

Evaluation: This is a pass/fail course. Evaluation will take place through in-class exercises and a final paper.

668: Decedents’ Estates and Trusts

Krista Gaedtke — Thu, 07 Dec 2017 16:27:59 +0000

This course addresses transfers of money and property at death. Topics addressed include intestate succession; execution, revocation, and construction of wills; and non-probate means of transfer including inter vivos trusts, life insurance policies, and retirement plans. Because the law of succession varies by state, the course’s primary focus will be on model code and restatement rules.

Sequence and Prerequisites: None.

Evaluation: Administered final examination, plus online discussion participation and one or two homework assignments

501: Professional Responsibility (Graduate Students)

Krista Gaedtke — Wed, 15 Nov 2017 22:31:47 +0000

This course concerns itself with the laws, regulations, and customs that govern the legal profession and its service to the public. Students are confronted by a series of problem situations involving ethical issues and asked to resolve them in class discussion. The course analyzes the ABA Model Code of Professional Responsibility, the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct, the ABA Model Code of Judicial Conduct, and other sources of ethical guidance. Subjects considered are litigation, conflicts of interest, advertising, financing of legal services, acquisition of clients, unauthorized practice, judicial ethics, government service, public interest practice, corporate practice, and legal discipline and malpractice.

Sequence and Prerequisites: None. This course will meet with Law 680: Professional Responsibility.

Evaluation: Final examination

792: Small Firm Practice

Chris Davies — Thu, 22 Dec 2016 19:47:58 +0000

This course will examine how lawyers in solo practices and small firms (five lawyers or less) create and operate such firms. This course is designed for students interested in eventually working in such firms. This course will feature a number of panel discussions with successful solo and small firm practitioners. This course will address: 1) the personal characteristics needed to succeed in small firms; 2) creating a firm business plan; 3) financial, operational, and technological aspects of solo and small firm development; 4) how to market a solo or small firm practice; and 5) ethical and professional responsibility aspects of a solo or small firm practice.

Sequence and Prerequisites: None

Evaluation: Students will be expected to attend class, review the assigned reading before class, participate in class discussions, and prepare two short papers and an oral presentation.

792: Poverty and the Law

Doyle — Thu, 22 Dec 2016 19:47:58 +0000

This course will explore how the law and poverty interact. Public policy, legislation, case law and administrative rules will be analyzed to explore their impact on the low-income population. The evolution of social safety nets will be examined, as will common poverty myths. This course utilizes a traditional final examination and class periods involve significant opportunity for discussion.

Sequence and Prerequisites: None

Evaluation: Final Exam

680: Professional Responsibility

Doyle — Thu, 22 Dec 2016 19:47:58 +0000

This course is eligible to satisfy the Professional Responsibility and Ethics course requirement for graduation.

Sequence and Prerequisites: None

Evaluation: Administered final examination

682: Evidence

Doyle — Thu, 22 Dec 2016 19:47:58 +0000

This course teaches the principles and process of proving facts at trial. Until fairly recently, the regulating rules were governed by the common law. But most jurisdictions now codify their evidence rules, and this course focuses on the Federal Rules of Evidence, which have been highly influential on state codes. This course begins with the concept of relevance, and the limits upon the receipt of relevant evidence. These limits may be imposed for purely practical reasons, or to advance some extrinsic policy. For example, the Rules limit the admissibility of character evidence and sexual history in rape cases. The course also teaches the Hearsay Doctrine, with consideration of its constitutional underpinnings in criminal cases, and its exceptions. You will also learn about witness testimony and the process of testing credibility via cross examination and impeachment. This will also cover the use of expert testimony and scientific evidence, authentication of documents and other physical evidence, and the Best Evidence Doctrine. The course may also cover the rules of privilege, and the burdens of production and persuasion. (These extended topics are more likely to be covered in the four hour version of this course.)

Sequence and Prerequisite: None. Evidence is a prerequisite for several upper-level courses.

Evaluation: Administered final examination

686: Remedies

Doyle — Thu, 22 Dec 2016 19:47:58 +0000

This course considers what plaintiffs are entitled to receive from a court when they win a case.

It explores the application of legal and equitable remedies in a variety of contexts, including damage remedies, equitable remedies, and restitutionary remedies. Topics include remedies for personal injury, damage to property (tangible and intangible), violation of civil rights, as well as remedies arising in contract and quasi-contractual settings.

In the study of equitable remedies, the course reviews temporary restraining orders and preliminary injunctions, contempt, and problems of continuing injunctive relief. With respect to remedies for injury to property interests, the class studies restitutionary remedies for the wrongful acquisition of benefits and misappropriation of ideas. The course requires students to apply their learning, working with other students to find and apply the best remedy in simulations based upon real-world cases.

Sequence and Prerequisites: None

Evaluation: Administered final examination

798: Sports Law Seminar

Doyle — Thu, 22 Dec 2016 19:47:58 +0000

This three credit course (with 100 minutes of in-class time and two meetings with the professor, one of approximately 60 minutes length and the other of approximately 30 minutes length) will cover several different areas of sports and the law, including contracts (which will include relationships with agents), torts, discrimination, labor, antitrust, Olympic sports, doping, and the NCAA.

Sequence and Prerequisites: None

Evaluation: Grading for this course will be based on a paper on a topic, a second paper regarding an extensive interview of a sports and the law figure (chosen and arranged by the student), and class participation. There are several expectations for the class in addition to preparing and participating in class. First, students will significantly prepare for the interview, including discussing their proposed interview questions with the professor. At the beginning of the semester, students will need to do much work to arrange and prepare for the interview. Students will also need to submit the paper regarding the interview in the first half of the semester. Second, during the last five weeks of the course, students will present their draft topic papers to the class. The draft papers will be distributed in advance to the class and will be reviewed during individual meetings with the professor. The final topic paper will be due at the end of the first week of exams.