Reflections On Legal Ethics – Case Study: The Letter

I am not an attorney and present this article only as a short story example to be used as a case study for an educational conversation on legal ethics.? Any references to people, places, or events are by coincidence only and not meant to presume guilt or any ethical or legal determinations or references in the making.? Standard disclaimers apply as this article is for educational purposes to stimulate conversation on legal ethics.

Case Study:? The Letter

Once upon a time in a county far, far away, there was an entrenched group of corrupt and unethical government employees and legal professionals.? A drug dealer operated in this same county for years and years to the point these corrupt and unethical governments and legal professionals protected him.? Yes, they protected him out of fear.? You see, given how this drug dealer inserted himself into certain groups and activities within the county, he was able to accumulate a wealth of blackmail material on prominent people within the community.? This includes information on the corrupt and unethical government employees and legal professionals.? This drug dealer has been very vocal stating the fact that if he gets arrested by law enforcement, then he is going to publicly share all the skeletons in the county closet!?

It just so happens to be this drug dealer’s attorney, is also related to one of the county judges….how convenient!? And this same county judge assigned this same attorney…to be the drug dealer’s minor son’s law guardian…how doubly convenient!? It also turns out there is a group of unethical legal professionals who make up a very nice, organized ring…with their own legal skeletons too.? Then in this crazy three ring circus in a county far, far away…is a defense attorney with a whole lot of skeletons in his closet.? Literally…Edgar Allan Poe would have been impressed!? This defense attorney is also conveniently the public defender who also supports…the drug dealer…by preventing information from getting into the court system!? Think about it…any of the new competition this Drug Dealer has …would likely be represented by….the county public defender ….how convenient!?

So as the story goes, some new competition moves into this county again, except it’s not competition for the drug dealer’s customers’....it’s for the drug dealer’s ex-wife. “Houston…we have a problem….”? The really big problem was the new competition foolishly thought he could help the ex-wife break free of the insanity of the drug dealing ex-husband.? “Houston…we have another problem…she still wants to protect him too…in order to protect herself from her involvement in his activities.”? Uh-oh.

Turns out it was a much, much bigger problem than Houston was prepared for…initially.? The drug dealer convinced the ex-wife and their daughter to set up and orchestrate an incident with the goal of getting the new competition caught up in the corrupt and unethical county legal system.? The drug dealer sent threatening texts to the new competition a few days earlier and then followed through on the plan and attacked the new competition at the time and place arranged for by the ex-wife.? Brilliant!? So the orchestrated incident was carried out, but did not quite end up as planned as the drug dealer ended up in the hospital…for grossly misjudging what actions he was taking by attacking his new competition.? However, even though the new competition acted in self-defense, he was still charged and needed a defense attorney.? Perfect!? Ahhhh...how sweet it is…or at least how it started out….enter the defense attorney.?

Fast forward two months after the orchestrated incident and the new competition decides to help support a charity event and make a cross-country road trip.? After traveling 5000 miles through almost 20 states, he sent his defense attorney a picture of himself with a sign marking the milestone in his journey.? Two days later his defense attorney sends a letter to the county district attorney falsely stating his client “is on an experimental cancer medication as his cancer is pretty close to terminal”.? This despite the fact his client kept him well informed of his health conditions and never stated he was diagnosed with cancer.? This defense attorney issued this letter to the county district attorney without his client’s knowledge or approval.? Then six months later, the defense attorney willfully and knowingly submitted the same letter containing false statements as part court documentation.? This letter has been repeatedly used for defamation of character against his now former client ever since the defense attorney first issued it.

Reflections on Legal Ethics

As part of the analysis of what is presented in the example case study example, I ask both legal and non-legal professionals to reflect on the following:

• How should the legal profession interpret the actions of this defense attorney?? Should this be considered ethical or unethical?

• Should the action of the defense attorney knowingly submitting the same letter containing false statements…six months later as part of a court motion and as part of legal documentation…be considered acceptable, unethical, or possibly? criminal?

• If you were a member of the Attorney Grievance Committee reviewing the example case study example above if it were submitted as part of an attorney grievance complaint, what would you rule on the actions of the defense attorney?

Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) webpage from Cayuga County for those who may want to know more about the asbestos issue and why just two years earlier the contractor they hired for renovations...somehow overlooked the "vermiculite" issue...or not...

Here is the Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) webpage from Cayuga County, NY.

Here is the Freedom of Information Law Request (pdf) for Cayuga County, NY.

Please feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below and let's get this conversation going. I have more case study examples if people are interested.

Related article:? Reporting Unethical Legal Professionals In New York State

This article can also be found on Substack:? Reflections On Legal Ethics – Case Study: The Letter.