I had a long talk this morning with one of Mercer's most incredible faculty members, Jack Sammons about the challenges of teaching Professional Responsibility (we call it "Law of Lawyering"). At Mercer, it's taught in the 5th semester. I've taught it here, at the University of Texas, and at University of Houston Law Center, all as third-year courses. I wonder if it makes sense to put the course earlier? Jack's view was that each placement has its own plusses and minusses, but that only in the third year do students have enough context to fully appreciate the course. He's right, of course, but cutting against it is that as 3Ls they tend to be less engaged with law school, more focused on the MPRE, and more jaded than 2Ls.
Anyway, what thoughts you all on this? No matter where it is, this is the toughest course in law school to teach, I believe.