Teaching professional ethics through popular culture

Abstract

The LETR urged UK law schools to consider how they might do more to encourage the development of professional ethics. This article engages with that call and reflects on the experience of teaching professional ethics through popular culture. It begins by outlining some of the theoretical work that has been undertaken in establishing law and popular culture as a discipline more generally, before focusing on professional ethics in particular. The course itself is designed to encourage students to understand the changes to professional ethics over the past 100 years and how these changes have pushed law away from a model of professionalism towards one of commercialism. These changes are mirrored by a subsequent downturn in cultural representations of the lawyer. The module encourages students to see professional ethics as a possible reason for these negative portrayals. The paper then considers student evaluations of the first two years that the course has run, highlighting its positives and also looking at how it may be improved for the future.