please help me answer these.
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DiStockphoto.com/Mikes WHO'S RESPONSIBLE? I am a young attorney working in San Francisco for the law firm of Cornwall, Williams, and Wallace. Upon joining the firm, I was assigned to work with one of our new clients, a building contractor in the Bay Area. One of my primary responsibilities was to ensure that safety certif- icates and other compliance documents were obtained for new buildings. My liaison at the firm actually dealt with the city safety inspectors, but my job was to make sure everything was "in order" before occupancy could begin. During a briefing at the law firm about my work, the senior partner assigned to this account pointed out how casily this contractor seemed to get these certificates compared to our other clients, who usually had to contend with delays and red tape. He speculated that there might be pay- offs involved. Of particular concern was a new office building that was ready for occu- pancy in record time. This 10-story building, perched on one of the city's many hills, was built as a medical center where doctors and dentists could see their patients. I was troubled, so I raised the issue with my contact at the firm. Once he felt comfort- able that attorney-client privilege was in effect, he admitted that there was a "cozy rela- tionship between the contractor and several of the city's building inspectors. They were being paid off to "look the other way" and to expeditiously approve new buildings even if substandard material was sometimes used. I asked about the new medical building, and he affirmed that not all the construction material conformed to the building code standards. I pressed him for more specific information, but he refused to elaborate. As our meeting came to an end, he tried to offer me some reassurance: "Don't worry--we've put up commercial buildings all over this city and none of them have ever collapsed!" After this meeting, I returned to my office at the law firm. I was not sure what to do about this revelation. I didn't want to be mixed up in some elaborate bribery scheme. Should I ask for a new assignment? Should I take steps to inform city authorities about the illicit activities of this
company? I brought these matters up with the senior partner, but he seemed inured to such corporate wrongdoing and was much less concerned than I was. He reminded me that we had a duty to respect confidentiality and that we were bound by the ABA code of professional responsibility." He was also somewhat upset that I had pursued this matter. "You should have stayed out of it," he exclaimed. “The less we know about these things, the better." I was then instructed to keep working for this client on several new projects until the partners could figure out how to proceed. Four months later, much to my great dismay, there was a terrible fire at the new med- ical building. Three people trapped on one of the top floors were killed in the blaze, and several firefighters were seriously injured. It appears that the electrical wiring was inferior
and not in compliance with the city's building code standards. There was a major scan- dal, and the contractor along with five city inspectors were quickly indicted on several criminal charges. Civil suits are sure to follow. But nothing happened to me or to anyone else at Cornwall. Rather, I am now assigned to the team defending the contractor in these criminal proceedings, so I must begin to collect evidence and prepare for the upcoming depositions. Despite the apparent complacency of my colleagues, I can't seem to shake off the guilt I feel over this tragic incident. I could have probably done something about this contrac- tor's corrupt payoffs, but I chose not to do so. Do I bear some of the responsibility for what's happened? I can't help but wonder what the victims' families would think about my lack of action. Maybe I'm just not cut out to be a lawyer. Is this lawyer in any way remotely complicit in the corrupt actions of his
company and the city building inspectors? • Should he have "stayed out of it," as the senior partner said, and not sought to confirm his suspicions of the corruption? Would his “ignorance" relieve him of responsibility for what transpired? What would Aristotle say about all this? Does the duty of confidentiality spelled out in the ABA code trump a lawyer's moral duty to expose the corruption? .