The practice of law has changed dramatically in the last several decades and is expected to change even more as we enter the 21st century. Some law firms have as many as 1,000 lawyers, with offices throughout the world. Lawyers are associating not only in traditional law partnerships and professional corporations, but also in newly emerging “limited liability” entities, which purport to limit an individual lawyer’s liability for the legal malpractice of other lawyers in the firm. Some lawyers are forming joint ventures, or “networks,” to share resources and information for purposes of a particular case or for a series of cases. Others have ongoing “affiliations” with each other, which they advertise and use to market themselves to prospective clients. Accountants and other nonlawyers want to associate with lawyers in “multidisciplinary practices” that offer a full range of legal and financial or other non-legal services to corporations and other consumers. Individual lawyers are traveling all over the country and the world to serve their clients, thereby finding it difficult to avoid violating unauthorized practice of law statutes in their multijurisdictional practices. Lawyers and law firms are investing large sums of money in their clients’ business ventures, sometimes making more money from these investments then they do from the practice of law. And then there is the internet and other new technology—we are seeing individual lawyer and law firm websites, as well as internet-based legal service delivery mechanisms, including a lawyer referral service that permits lawyers to place blind “bids” on a client’s legal problem. This seminar will explore the ethical issues raised by these and other changes in the practice of law, including not only unauthorized practice, but also conflicts of interest, confidentiality, advertising and solicitation. A paper will be required. There are no prerequisites for this seminar. This seminar satisfies the Upper-class professional responsibility requirement. ** A student who fails to attend the initial meeting of a seminar (designated by an (S) in the title), or to obtain permission to be absent from either the instructor or the Registrar, may be administratively dropped from the seminar. Students who are on a wait list for a seminar are required to attend the first seminar meeting to be considered for enrollment.

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