Changes in Lawyers' Ethics Rules Approved

[Rose Siding]

Lawyers who learn that a client is cooking the books or looting a company's till could snitch to authorities with a clear conscience under changes to lawyers' ethical rules approved narrowly Monday by the American Bar Association's policy-making board.

The board voted 218-201 to loosen restrictions on when lawyers can reveal suspected fraud by a client. The changes are a departure from the organization's traditional refusal to place society's concern over financial crimes above a lawyer's duty to keep client confidences.

snip>

The new rules affect in-house lawyers for corporations as well as outside lawyers who learn of current or planned wrongdoing.

The new rules permit disclosure of confidential client information if it would head off fraud, shady accounting or other wrongdoing that the lawyer thinks would harm other people, including shareholders. Lawyers also could rat out a client without violating ethics in instances where a client had used or abused a lawyer's services to commit a crime in the past.

http://www.optonline.net/Article/Feeds?CID=channel%3D32%26article%3D8835808

[JewelDigger]

1. oooooooohhhhhhhh ..... an 'honest' lawyer....goodbye to the jokes!

Under the new ethics rules, what happens if a lawyer doesn't 'come forward' when they know their client is 'currently doing or planning' wrongdoing?

The answer to THAT should tell whether or not there is any 'teeth' in this new ruling.

[jenm]

2. lawyers ethics

Remains to be seen if lawyers are really that much smarter than accountants, who lost their self governing privileges due to excessive greed and sloppiness. It's kind of ironic that loss of money now ranks right up there with loss of life, as far as ethical exceptions are concerned.

[newyawker99]

6. Hi jenm!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[Sinistrous]

3. Utterly Amazing!

The words "lawyer" and "ethics" in the SAME SENTENCE!

Talk about oxymoronic.

[jenm]

4. sinstrous

well, the world is coming to an end soon, or so they like to say

[dfong63]

5. enough lawyer bashing

just remember, oftimes lawyers are the little guy's only hope for justice against the big corporations. that's why the the pro-corporate rightwing hates them and constantly vilifies them. sure there are crooked lawyers, but there are also many honorable ones. don't fall for the rightwing propaganda.

and no, i'm not a lawyer myself.

on edit: these remarks were intended in response to the replies, not the original message.