Monthly Archives: April 2010

April 23, 2010

Why Lawyers Should Work “For Good”

Attorney Dawn Levine has complied a list of the reasons for attorneys to work pro bono. It should be on the walls of every lawyer in America. Continue reading →

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Filed under Business & Commercial, Citizenship, Law & Law Enforcement, Professions, Public Service, Philanthropy, Charity, U.S. Society

Tagged as aspirations, charity, compliance, Dawn Levine, democracy, duty of citizenship, ethics, ideals, kindness, lawyers, legal ethics, lists, poverty, pro bono, social responsibility

April 23, 2010

Ethics Quote of the Week

A Harvard expert on race reminds reparation advocates that Africans were complicit in the slave trade too. Continue reading →

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Filed under Citizenship, Government & Politics, History, Law & Law Enforcement, Race, Research and Scholarship, U.S. Society

Tagged as accountability, African Americans, ethics, fairness, Harvard, Prof. Henry Louis Gates, race relations, reparations, responsibility, slavery

April 22, 2010

Comedy Central’s Unethical Self-Censorship

Comedy Central betrays U.S. values and fails its duty by capitulating to threats. Continue reading →

6 Comments

Filed under U.S. Society

Tagged as "South Park", Bush Administration, censorship, comedy, Comedy Central, comedy ethics, courage, Dick Cheney, duty, ethics, Eugene V. Debs, extremists, Freedom of Speech, Freedom of the press, G.B. Shaw, H.L. Mencken, integrity, Islam, John Adams, Jonathan Swift, Lenny Bruce, Molly Ivins, Muhammad, Patrick Henry, responsibility, terrorism, Theo Van Gogh, Thomas Paine, threats, violence, Voltaire, W.S. Gilbert

April 22, 2010

Don’t Tell Mom the Client’s Dead

Continuing to negotiate as if the client is alive is an affirmative and material misrepresentation. And in this lawyer’s case, perhaps business as usual… Continue reading →

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Filed under Law & Law Enforcement, Professions, U.S. Society

Tagged as ABA Model Rule 8.4, honesty, legal ethics, Minnesota, misrepresentation, professional discipline, trust

April 22, 2010

Mayor Bloomberg’s Off-shore Tax Havens: Legal, and Wrong

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s family foundation makes extensive use of off-shore tax havens and hedge funds in the Cayman Islands, avoiding U.S. taxes that other major foundations choose to pay. Legal, yes. Ethical? Continue reading →

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Filed under Around the World, Business & Commercial, Government & Politics, Law & Law Enforcement, Leadership, Professions, Public Service, Philanthropy, Charity, U.S. Society

Tagged as appearance of impropriety, Bill Gates, Cayman Islands, civic responsibility, conflict of interest, Dean Zerbe, Duke, fairness, Gates Foundation, hedge funds, hypocrisy, integrity, loop-holes, Michael Bloomberg, New York Observer, off-shore investments, tax havens, Yale

April 22, 2010

Ethics Hero: P.G.A. Golfer Brian Davis

Brian Davis had a chance to win his first pro golf championship, but decided to do the right thing instead. Continue reading →

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Filed under Ethics Heroes, Etiquette and manners, Professions, Sports

Tagged as Brian Davis, fairness, golf, honesty, honor system, integrity, P.G.A., self-reporting, Tiger Woods

April 22, 2010

Tea Party Vengeance

There can be no justification for setting out to get someone fired for expressing a private opinion, but that’s exactly what the head of a Tea Party organization did. Continue reading →

8 Comments

Filed under Business & Commercial, Citizenship, Etiquette and manners, Government & Politics, The Internet, U.S. Society, Workplace

Tagged as "Tea Party" movement, bullying, civility, cruelty, ethics, Freedom Works, integrity, intimidation, Lance Baxter, Matt Kibbe, privacy, The Golden Rule, vengeance

April 21, 2010

Ethics, Punishment and the Dead Child in the Back Seat

Leaving a baby to die in an over-heated car is negligent homicide, by definition. How bad the parent may feel about it doesn’t take the place of punishment. Continue reading →

6 Comments

Filed under Citizenship, Daily Life, Family, Journalism & Media, Law & Law Enforcement, U.S. Society

Tagged as accountability, bias, class, distraction, empathy, fairness, Gene Weingarten, homicide, justice, moral luck, negligence, parents, prosecutorial discretion, Pultitzer Prize, punishment, punsihment, remorse, responsibility, sympathy