Identifying the Ethical System
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 must determine what your next steps will be.
Write an analysis report in Microsoft Word document analyzing the dilemma and how you will handle the problem:
- Address if the attorney’s action was ethical or unethical and explain your reasoning.
- Identify the ethical system you used to make your decision.
- Explain when and how whistle-blowing is ethical.
- Explain, giving reasons, if you would consider reporting your colleague to a partner in the law firm or some other higher authority?
For information on the legal rules of conduct and whistleblowing, visit the following websites:
https://myclasses.southuniversity.edu/content/enforced/93139-17109789/media/week3/SUO_W3_Project_Policy_Analysis.pdf?_&d2lSessionVal=5Lp70s6mlxZOzKNRTAmvAEZ7O
https://oig.justice.gov/sites/default/files/archive/special/0007/allegations.htm
https://www.americanbar.org/groups/professional_responsibility/publications/model_rules_of_professional_conduct/
