Professional Responsibility (Past Project)

In this project we sought to promote clarity and consensus about the role and professional obligations of a criminal defense lawyer in China and assist Chinese colleagues in strengthening systemic protections for criminal defense lawyers.

The project had three phases: i) collaborating with Chinese partners to more clearly define the challenges faced by the criminal defense bar; ii) cooperating with our partners to develop a curriculum that spotlighted weaknesses in the legal regime regulating the conduct of lawyers and proposed solutions; and iii) implementing the curriculum at four workshops in Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu, and Guangzhou. The project began a conversation and stimulated fresh thinking about how to address the concerns of the criminal defense bar in a meaningful and sustainable way.