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Legal Ethics
« Previous EntriesIs it ethical for the police to run want ads for informants?
Monday, November 24th, 2008The Washington Post Express reported this morning on the Albuquerque Police Department’s decision to use the want ads to recruit informants. According to the Post Express, the police department’s ad solicits “people who hang out with crooks,” inviting them to “Make extra cash!” by reporting criminal behavior, earning anywhere from $50 for a tip that [...]
$700 billion for the bailout, but NOTHING for enforcement?
Thursday, October 23rd, 2008NPR reported this morning that the FBI has begun investigating the financial crisis on Wall Street, and has already started uncovering instances of subprime mortgage lending fraud. That’s no surprise, because we already know that loans were being made to homeowners who couldn’t possibly afford to pay them. The good news is that the FBI is bringing [...]
Was SEC Chair Christopher Cox right to dismiss self-regulation?
Thursday, October 2nd, 2008As the subprime mortgage/credit crisis continues to play out, the second-guessing has begun. The New York Times recently quoted Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Christopher Cox as blaming the SEC’s “voluntary regulation” program for the failure. To grossly oversimplify the program, investment banks were invited, but not required, to submit to the SEC’s supervision, opting [...]
How will the next President treat detainees?
Friday, September 26th, 2008We’ve been hearing for at least a week that the world was going to come to a cataclysmic end unless immediate, effective action was taken by Congress and the Administration to fix the Wall Street train wreck. No action (effective or otherwise) has been taken, the politicians continue to blame, carp, and maneuver, and guess what? [...]
The Post’s Pearlstein says Wall Street execs should apologize - but will they?
Thursday, September 25th, 2008Washington Post columnist Steven Pearlstein warmed my heart yesterday when he made a compelling case for why the Wall Street executives who brought the current financial crisis crashing down around us all should stand before the cameras together in the rotunda of the Capitol and say two words to the American people: “We’re sorry.” As Pearlstein [...]
How will the next President handle reconstruction in Iraq?
Friday, July 18th, 2008On a recent trip abroad, I happened to be watching BBC television when the network rebroadcast an investigative series titled, “The Baghdad Billions” that first ran in November of 2006. BBC reporter Mark Gregory described how the U.S. government apparently mismanaged private contractors who were brought in to rebuild post-war Iraq. The program described alleged improprieties [...]
Doctors Learn that Apologies Can Prevent Lawsuits
Tuesday, June 3rd, 2008The New York Times reported recently about an encouraging new trend in the medical profession. It seems that doctors are being encouraged to take a new approach when they make a mistake. Instead of denying, stonewalling, and waiting for the malpractice lawsuit papers to land on their desks, doctors are starting to admit [...]
How well did the legal system serve the Shanks family?
Tuesday, April 1st, 2008For readers who think I’ve been too hard on Wal-Mart in my last couple of posts, let me say right now that I don’t think the legal system did the Shanks family any favors, either. My interest in this tragic story led me to the website www.walmartwatch.com, where I found an open letter from Debbie Shanks’ [...]
Lerach got convicted - but he just doesn’t get it
Thursday, February 14th, 2008Securities litigator Bill Lerach was sentenced to a mere two years in prison this week for paying kickbacks to potential plaintiffs in high stakes class-action lawsuits. For my non-lawyer readers, that’s a major no-no. Lawyers are required to zealously represent our clients, but we’re not supposed to go out and bribe people to bring lawsuits so [...]
$3 Quadrillion? Oh, come on!
Friday, January 11th, 2008The Associated Press reports that restitution claims from Hurricane Katrina have been filed this week with the Army Corps of Engineers. It’s no surprise that some of those claims were substantial - whole towns were wiped away by the storm, and far too many people tragically lost their homes, their jobs, their lives and their [...]
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