Ethical Issues
Introduction
In today’s environment, a large number of people are involved in illegal activities. It is identified that in order to achieve success in the business, they use unethical practices for the achievement of profit within a short period of time. These unethical practices need to be addressed in order to protect the people from frauds. In this case, ethical issues in the profession are identified. Along with this, decisions in order to solve these issues are also discussed by the researcher.
Professional Responsibilities
According to the chosen professional case study, criminal lawyer has to handle the case of defending a trial for murder. At the same time, the lawyer is also informed that his client is innocent and not committed any crime (Pirsig & Kirwin, 1976). As he knows that he is not committed any crime, the probability of her release is very high and the decision of the court will be in her favor. Further, the lady also discussed about her past crime with her lawyer. According to her, she did not involve in the current murder, but four years earlier she did a murder. Now, it has been an ethical issue for the lawyer to save his client or not. In the present situation, the lady is not a murderer, but still the lawyer threatened her either to accept her old crime or he withdraws the case because she is a well informed criminal, but she refused to accept.
In such a case, the lawyer stuck on the ground of ethical responsibility. According to his profession, it is his responsibility to protect his client and support her because she is not an offender in the current situation, whereas she is an intelligent criminal and committed a crime earlier, for which she did not get punished (Pirsig & Kirwin, 1976).
As a legal professional, it is the duty and moral responsibility of the lawyer to maintain confidentiality and focus on protection of the client. If the lawyer withdraws the case, it will be against his professional ethics and moral responsibility, so it has been an issue whether to continue with the case of not to defend a criminal, who has not committed a crime in the current case. Unfair decisions of the lawyer will create the problem for both and create unethical conditions (Peterson & Ferrell, 2005).
Professional ethics can be considered as the personal and organizational standards that every person involved in the profession has to follow. Some of the standards are citation and interpretation, relationship with clients, effective relationship with the lawyer and maintaining confidentiality (Davson-Galle, 2012).
In order to overcome this issue, the lawyer has to focus towards ethical theories and practices. He has to make decisions in such a manner that they will become in favor of the people and the client. The role of professional ethics is critical in making the fair decisions for the people. It is difficult for the lawyer to make decisions in the favor of justice without having complete information.
Ethical Issues in Case
The main ethical issue associated with this situation is that, should the lawyer defend his client or withdraw the case. The lawyer is not allowed to breach the contract of confidentiality and the client enforces him to take action in the favor of client on the basis of professional ethics. As well, the client has not committed the crime, so it is the moral responsibility of the lawyer to protect her without considering her past criminal activities.
Moreover, the chances of acquittal of the lady are very high and the case decision will be in her favor. Now it has been an issue for the lawyer that if the decision will be in her favor and court will release her, she might be a threat to the society and it is an ethical issue (Brooks & Dunn, 2009). On the other hand, according to the American Bar Association's Model Rules of Professional Conduct, at this stage the lawyer cannot withdraw the case.
According to the model rule, the lawyer has to maintain the strict confidentiality about all information. They are not allowed to reveal the information because it will come under the breach of confidentiality. These issues create problem in handling the case because the lawyer is not able to withdraw the case and the case will go in favor of a criminal, which is a further security issue in the society (Ferrell & Fraedrich, 2014).
It is identified in such case; the lawyer has to follow the professional ethics. In order to overcome these problems, the lawyer should consider all the professional ethics and rules to continue with the case. According to professional ethics, the lawyer has to take decisions that are ethically right and do not breach his professional responsibility.
Considerations for Making Decisions
It is analyzed that the lawyer has maintained a friendly relationship with the client, which in turn helpful in solving the overall issues. On the basis of professional ethics, the lawyer should maintain confidentiality between him and the client. As well to take his decision to continue with the case, there are certain theories on the basis of which, they can make decisions in order to overcome this problem (Cory, 2006). The lawyer can consider the theory of utilitarianism in which he can make a decision in such a manner that they will focus towards maximizing the positive outcomes and to make decisions in favor of the majority.
On the basis of this theory, the lawyer can give lowest consideration to negative outcomes. He should also take decisions in which he can justify his position and help his client without breaching any professional ethics, so that she will not get any punishment for a crime, which is not done by her. Quality decisions will be useful in improving the overall image of the lawyer. If the lawyer will not take the decisions in the favor of the public, it will not generate quality decisions and people will not develop trust on the lawyer (Weiss, 2008).
According to utilitarianism theory, the decision of the lawyer to protect his client would not harm anyone and there might be possibilities that after releasing from this case, the lady will work for society and will not commit any further crime. It is the honesty of the lady that she provided information about her past crime, it means, she actually wants to be free with this charge and want to spend a peaceful life.
Moreover, the lawyer can also make his decision on the basis of deontologist ethical theory, which reflects the fundamental duties and rights of the individuals. According to this theory, it is the duty of the lawyer to protect the lady, who is not accused. As the lawyer is defending her for the current murder situation, in which she is innocent, the lawyer should take a decision in her favor (Peterson & Ferrell, 2005).
Deontology is the factor in which the lawyer has the duties towards the self and other people. Therefore, he has to take decisions in favor of his client, which will be beneficial for both client and the lawyer.
Another ethical theory is virtue ethics in which the lawyer can judge the person by his character and do not by his action. Therefore, the lawyer can deal with the case on the basis of the past records of lady. In the past, the client has committed the crime and another woman, with a long criminal record, convicted murder and save her life. After that the lady has not involved in any criminal activity. Thus, she has been responsible for the society. The lawyer can give her one more chance to serve the society and make her life comfortable. It is necessary for the lawyer to understand the situation in favor of his client before taking any decision (Palmer, 2010).
In order to resolve this issue, the lawyer should conduct a meeting with the client and get information about the actual person who is involved in the issue. Proper and complete information will be helpful in taking the correct decisions. At the same time, the client has the right to protect themselves against the wrongful act, because she has not committed the crime. Thus, the lawyer should make decisions in favor of client and discuss with her that she will not commit any crime in the future and serve the community by following her social and moral responsibility.
Professional Ethics
It is the responsibility of all people to follow professional ethics in order to overcome problems. A person involved in the any legal profession should always make the correct and ethical decisions. It is identified that people involved in the legal profession, such as the lawyer and doctor, etc. should take those decisions, which give maximum benefits to the society and their clients and minimizes negative consequences. It is their responsibility to understand the situation from basic and make ethical decisions (Foster & Lasser, 2010). A positive decision will be useful to develop faith and trust among people and also motivate them to follow correct actions. They should also maintain confidentiality of information.
In this case, the lawyer can breach the contract of confidentiality and withdraw the case as well by providing information about all the criminal records of lady. His action might be helpful for him to resolve this situation, but can create negative consequences for the lady and she would get punished. Due to this, it might possible that in future she will commit more crimes and harm the society.
Thus, it is the responsibility of the lawyer to follow professional ethics and take the decisions that will be beneficial for them, his client and also give positive results for the society. Thus, in this situation, by following professional ethic, the lawyer should not breach the contract of confidentiality and protect the life of his client (Ferrell & Fraedrich, 2014). This action could be useful in taking the right decisions and also fulfill the requirement of professional ethics.
Conclusion
From the above discussion, it can be concluded that professional ethics should be followed in order to take a correct decision. Different ethical theories such as utilitarianism theory, deontologist, virtue ethics, etc. are helpful in taking correct decisions and follow ethical roles and responsibilities of an individual. In this situation, the lawyer should also focus on these theories and adopt utilitarianism and deontologist theories to make a decision and applied all the moral standards to make any decision.
References
Brooks, L.R. & Dunn, P. (2009). Business & Professional Ethics for Directors, Executives & Accountants
Cory, J. (2006). Business Ethics: The Ethical Revolution of Minority Shareholders. USA: Springer.
Davson-Galle, P. (2012). Reason and Professional Ethics. USA: Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.
Ferrell, O.C. & Fraedrich, J. (2014). Business Ethics: Ethical Decision Making & Cases. USA: Cengage Learning.
Foster, I.R. & Lasser, J. (2010). Professional Ethics in Midwifery Practice. USA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Palmer, D.E. (2010). Ethical Issues in E-business: Models and Frameworks. USA: Idea Group Inc (IGI).
Peterson, R.A. & Ferrell, O.C. (2005). Business Ethics: New Challenges for Business Schools and Corporate Leaders. USA: M.E. Sharpe.
Pirsig, M.E. & Kirwin, K.F. (1976). Case Number 3.1. Professional Responsibility: Cases and Materials. St. Paul, MN: West. 331-334. Reprinted in Callahan, Ethics in Professional Life, 3 – 4.
Weiss, J. (2008). Business Ethics: A Stakeholder and Issues Management Approach. USA: Cengage Learning.
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