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Identifying the Ethical System

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You are an intern at an attorney's office and you have been asked to prepare a memo in response to the following scenario:
•You have been accompanying one of the attorneys in your office to visit a client in jail. You notice that the attorney has been requesting continuances in his case for frivolous reasons. This has kept the inmate in jail for a long time. You suspect this has to do with the fact that the attorney hasn't received full payment for his work.
•The inmate discusses the problem with you, asking for your help. Upon being approached, the attorney explains the "Confidence Game," or the need for putting informal pressure on clients to pay the required legal fees.

You are now in a very delicate situation and must determine what your next steps will be.

Part 1:

Write an analysis report of four to five pages in Microsoft Word document analyzing the dilemma and how you would go about handling the problem. Your report should:
•Address if the attorney's action was ethical. Express your opinion with appropriate justifications.
•Explain why you believe the inmate feels he can trust you.
•Address if the legal code of the American Bar Association (ABA) was broken? If so, which of the legal codes of the ABA was broken and how?
•Explain, giving reasons, whether you feel that a report should be filed with a higher official.
•Explain, giving reasons, why you chose to handle the incident in the manner in which you did.
•Identify the ethical system you used to make your decision and why you rejected the other ethical systems.

Part 2:

Now you must determine if your actions would be considered "whistle-blowing." In order to determine this you will need to address the following issues:

The importance of whistle-blowing to the criminal justice system.
•Explain when and how whistle-blowing is ethical, if at all. Is it a betrayal or a public duty?
•Identify an ethical system that would consider whistle-blowing a betrayal and why.
•Identify an ethical system that would consider whistle-blowing a public duty and explain why.
•Would you consider reporting your colleague to a partner in the law firm?
•Would reporting your colleague be considered "whistle-blowing?" Why or why not?

For information on the legal rules of conduct and whistle-blowing, visit the following websites:

Cato.org: Policy Analysis

USdoj.org: INS Employees' Allegations of Retaliation

Whistleblower.org

Guidelines for Conduct

Support your responses with examples.

Cite any sources in APA format.

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Solution Summary

The expert identifies the ethical system in an attorney's office.

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http://www.americanbar.org/publications/criminal_justice_section_archive/crimjust_standards_dfunc_blk.html

Part 1:
Write an analysis report of four to five pages in Microsoft Word document analyzing the dilemma and how you would go about handling the problem. Your report should:
•Address if the attorney's action was ethical. Express your opinion with appropriate justifications.

These are not ethical actions, any attorney that denigrates the legal profession by engaging in deceptive and immoral practices such as this lawyer is acting in an unethical manner. To allow a defendant to be deprived of their freedom because of a lack of payment is no different than the state creating "debtor prisons" for citizens who can't pay. It is illegal and unethical for the state to do this, and it is also the case for an attorney in regard to the unethical nature of this action.

•Explain why you believe the inmate feels he can trust you.

There is no explanation for why a particular person feels that they can trust another person, but this situation is probably predicated upon the fact that the inmate has no one else they can trust. They can't trust the prosecution, cannot appeal to the judge, and are simply appealing to the only avenue they feel is available to alleviate their current problem. This is the reason that the inmate is "hoping" that they can trust you as if their hope is wrong, they will be left with no other avenue to stop this unethical injustice.

•Address if the legal code of the American Bar Association (ABA) was broken? If so, which of the legal codes of the ABA was broken and how?
Standard 4- 1.3 Delays; Punctuality; Workload
Obviously there have been violations of the legal code, and the above violation is the actual code that has been violated. The Defense counsel will be in violation of ...

Solution provided by:
Raushaun Rigsby, MSc
Education
  • Associates of Arts , Lone Star Community College
  • Bachelor of Science , Sam Houston State University
  • Masters of Science, Kaplan University
  • Masters of Science , Kaplan University
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