You are assigned an internship at a very respected law firm, since you would like to go to law school after you graduate. You would like to specialize not in criminal law, but instead have taken the easy path into civil law. Your internship sponsor is Bigbucks Ben, the leading partner in the firm, who is also one of the winningest civil law attorneys in town. Bigbucks, because you have taken Bob Perers law classes, assigns you to perform legal research, allows you to write legal briefs, and lets you go to court when Bigbucks argues cases. You have been at the internship for six months now and have had some great experiences, but there is something going on that greatly disturbs you.
When you first arrived, Bigbucks Ben sat you down and had a heart to heart talk with you about the “BIG GAME” of how the law worked and the role of the attorney. Bigbucks told you that in order to be successful you had to be willing to take great risks, do anything it took to win, and be ready to influence the way the game was played so that your clients were victorious. Bigbucks was a former combat Marine and related that legal proceedings were like a war. Everyone else was the enemy and your job was not only to survive the war, but kill as many enemy as you could. Only the strong survive, so be prepared to do what ever it takes to get the job done. This approach concerned you, but after all Bigbucks was successful at what he did.
The first time you noticed anything suspicious was when Bigbucks introduced you to the president of a local bank Bigbucks was representing in a multi-million dollar case. If Bigbucks won the case the fee to the firm would exceed one million dollars. Bigbucks stated ,in front of you, to the bank president, “Don’t worry so much Fred, we will win this case, the judge assigned to this case is a very good friend of mine.” When you went to court on this case, Judge Feelgood and Bigbucks met and Bigbucks gave Judge Feelgood a set of keys and stated, “Here you go, enjoy your new boat.” During the case almost every decision made by the judge was in favor of Bigbucks. The case ended when Judge Feelgood found in favor of the bank Bigbucks represented.
The second time you noticed something unusual, was a case where Bigbucks was suing a corporation for ten million dollars on behalf of one of the largest businesses in town. Bigbucks took you to court during preliminary proceeding of the case. After the court session, Bigbucks met with Judge Nogood in the judge’s chambers. Bigbucks asked the judge what the judge thought of the case and what strategies Bigbucks should pursue in order to win the case. The judge, instead of declining to help Bigbucks, started into a lengthy discourse of how to successfully complete the case. At the end of the meeting, Bigbucks gave the judge a white envelope that was stuffed with something and stated, “Judge this should help with your long over-due vacation. Just remember to let me know if there is anything you need when your staying at my Lake Tahoe, waterfront home.” Again, during the court proceedings, Bigbucks got everything and won the case, even though it seemed to you that Bigbucks clients were guilty of fraud and the corporation they were suing had done nothing wrong!
Yesterday, you read in the newspaper, that the FBI was engaged in a corruption investigation against the two local judges you had met. You now believe that Bigbucks was involved and what you heard and witnessed were acts of bribery.
What do you do now????
Your Assignment
- Clearly and concisely DEFINE THE PROBLEM.
- THOROUGHLY IDENTIFY AND DISCUSS all of the possible ALTERNATIVES you could use to solve this ethical/professional problem.
- For each alternative you have selected, you must accurately FORECAST ALL OF THE POTENTIAL CONSEQUENCES (pro and con) of each alternative.
- Lastly, you must state clearly which alternative (or combination of alternatives) you would select to solve this problem and you must then CLEARLY DEFEND YOUR CHOICE!
Things the assignment needs to achieve.
- Did you adequately describe and define the problem?
- Did you fully develop all of the alternatives available to you and fully detail the consequences of each?
- Did you provide a logical, well thought-out explanation of which alternative (s) you would use to solve this professional decision and did you provide a clear and concise defense of that choice?
- Is your paper typed, double spaced, neat, use excellent grammar and spelling, and is it presented in a logical manner free from fragmented sentence structure or thought?
You must follow the APA Publication Manual of Style. As per the APA Manual, you must include a cover page, and reference page citing your sources. Abstract is not needed.
The four page (Minimum 1200 words) requirement does not include Cover page and Reference page. Minimum 1200 words.