A Loophole for Lawyers…"But the Bad Boss Told Me So!"
Bad Bosses and their accountants, once caught, are penalized for their misdeeds. But what about the lawyers who counseled them for big bucks while employees lost their financial security? Why do the lawyers get away scot-free?
"The law itself poses complications. In order to protect communications between lawyers and their clients and to preserve the flow of information, attorneys enjoy broad protection from claims that they gave bad advice so long as they offered it honestly. That means prosecutors usually must seek cases with evidence of clear criminal intent: ones when lawyers personally profited, destroyed documents or misled auditors…"
Have you ever read anything in legalese that was clear? Corporate attorneys have a good thing going with their own language to obfuscate their message. And if anything accidentally appears to be clear, they can claim, "But the Bad Boss told me so!"
"Lawyers…can defend themselves by saying that they relied on the word of top executives in collecting bonuses and other payments…"
That may be changing, finally. "…Courts have held that exceptions can be made in cases where fraud or other crimes have taken place. And the legal privilege would give little cover to attorneys if they broke the law by actively covering up accounting schemes, funneling money to themselves and their bosses or tampering with documents." A few cases are pending.
Now this is a reality show worth watching.
"The law itself poses complications. In order to protect communications between lawyers and their clients and to preserve the flow of information, attorneys enjoy broad protection from claims that they gave bad advice so long as they offered it honestly. That means prosecutors usually must seek cases with evidence of clear criminal intent: ones when lawyers personally profited, destroyed documents or misled auditors…"
Have you ever read anything in legalese that was clear? Corporate attorneys have a good thing going with their own language to obfuscate their message. And if anything accidentally appears to be clear, they can claim, "But the Bad Boss told me so!"
"Lawyers…can defend themselves by saying that they relied on the word of top executives in collecting bonuses and other payments…"
That may be changing, finally. "…Courts have held that exceptions can be made in cases where fraud or other crimes have taken place. And the legal privilege would give little cover to attorneys if they broke the law by actively covering up accounting schemes, funneling money to themselves and their bosses or tampering with documents." A few cases are pending.
Now this is a reality show worth watching.
