...Statement of Facts There was a wave of seemingly related murders ravaged the area of Flagstaff, Arizona. On March 14, 2009, Stewart retained the services of Careful and Cautious, LLP, during the initial consultation; Stewart told James Careful the following: “Well, Mr. Careful, the truth is that I’m behind the six recent murders in the area. I’m really a good guy and I hate to kill people. But sometimes, I just can’t help myself. I don’t want to continue killing people but these voices in my head… they’re just so logical and irresistible.” James Careful then contacted the local police and reported his conversation with Stewart. Stewart was arrested for capital murder. At trial, James Careful testified against him. Careful related the entire March 14 conversation to the jury. Stewart was eventually found guilty of six counts of capital murder and was sentenced to death. Issue The issue is whether or not Stewart can petition for a writ of habeas corpus and whether or not Mr. Careful violated the attorney-client confidentiality privilege. Rule The ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct (ABA MPRC) has changed the landscape of attorney-client relations by creating an exception to confidentiality. Under the MRPC Rule 1.6(b) (1) a lawyer may "reveal" or "use" confidential information "to prevent reasonably certain death or substantial bodily harm.” McClure v. Thompson, 323 F.3d 1233 (9th Cir. Or. 2003) Petitioner sought habeas corpus relief pursuant to 28 U.S.C.S. § 2254 after...
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...The ethics rules governing conflicts of interest are based on the duties of loyalty and confidentiality. These duties are threatened when a paralegal has an interest that is adverse to a client’s, whether personal or business one. A lawyer is responsible for ensuring paralegal conflict of interest does not exist. p. 68. NALA code of ethics Canon 8 states a paralegal must disclose to his or her employer or prospective employer any pre-existing client or personal relationship that may conflict with the interests of the employer or perspective employer and/or their clients. p. 204. A long standing rule strongly disfavors gifts from clients to lawyers, therefore the same rule applies to a paralegal. The inherent conflict in a lawyer’s dual role of adviser to a client and recipient of a gift from a client establishes this disfavor. A paralegal should be aware of this conflict leading to a challenge to the gift or allegations of unethical conduct. Especially in the case of a substantial gift from an elderly or otherwise vulnerable client. The supervising attorney would recommend the client seek advice from an independent counsel and ask the paralegal to refrain from working on the gift document. A will or trust is potential for undue influence, fraud, and overreaching. Courts frequently void both inter vivos (during life) and testamentary (after death) cases, even without showing of undue influence. An attorney may be subject to discipline for accepting such gifts (ABA Model Rule 1...
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...Legal and Ethical Considerations in Marketing, Product Safety, and Intellectual Property Three Ethical Issues When looking at PharmaCARE’s relationship with the Colberians, you see that the company’s treatment of the indigenous population is unethical. In terms of intellectual property, the scenario in Assignment 2 highlights the exploitation of the Colberians. While the indigenous population freely shares their information about their cures, the company exploits them by not compensating them for their shared knowledge. According to labor laws, companies should work ethically and treat all of their employees fair -- not equal, but fair. Some employees, based on their position and level of responsibility, should be paid more and should receive better perks than others. However, the company is earning millions of dollars from the knowledge being shared by the healers, and its executives live in luxury with swimming pools, tennis courts, and a golf course, while the Colberians continue to live in huts without electricity or running water. If the company compensated the healers for their intellectual property, the Colberians could improve their living conditions. PharmaCARE is taking advantage of this group of stakeholders because the healers are uneducated, ignorant to intellectual property laws, and do not know the true value of the information they are sharing with PharmaCARE. According to authors S.C. Jain and R. Bird, the Trade-Related Aspect of Intellectual Property...
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...Legal and Ethical Considerations in Marketing, Product Safety, and Intellectual Property Leonard Allan Gulley II Strayer University Professor Muhammad 12-16-2013 Treat others the way you would like to be treated is the main principle of ethics. Ethics is also the moral value of what is right and what is wrong which we are taught when we are at the preadolescence age and continue to develop that trait as we mature through life (Resnik, 2011). It is also up to the individual or group of individuals on how they carry out their judgments on what is ethical or unethical behavior. This is also a problem because what one person may believe is ethical another person may disagree because every individual sees and handles each situation differently based on their knowledge and their core set of values. Even though there are laws set in place to dictate what is legal and what is illegal, laws and ethical values are not the same but ethics does play a significant role to determine the factors of a law (Resnik, 2011). Ethics is also important in the business world to ensure companies are morally doing the right thing. This is significant especially for consumers so that companies do not take advantage of them and if this is the case a company may face serious consequences for doing so (Sandilands,n.d.). In marketing and advertising it is a common occurrence for ethical values to be brought up as a lot of companies straddle the fence on this sensitive subject. It is up to both...
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...Tina Phillips MGM365-1204A-07 The Legal and Ethics of Business Professor Cassandra Hart Individual Project 5 November 12, 2012 Businesses are becoming increasingly global because of enormous advancement in technology, communication means and transportation facilities. The idea of doing business with other countries is certainly a great move for organizations as now they can make more money and profit. Ethical implementation plans, are a mode to get employees educated as a company adopts a universal policy to explain how employees should act and set guidelines and punishments for improper behavior. While implementing an ethical conduct plan an organization must consider certain factors that are of great importance. Cultural differences should be kept in mind. The differences of body languages, cultural norms and values, ones beliefs, meanings of words, if does not acknowledge then will lead towards disputes that are bad for any business. Educate the employees and other people associated with business that how can they neutralize the risk, those engaged in foreign assignments should be well known with the tricks. National and international government rules and regulations will vary, so it’s very necessary to closely look at all these things, read and become aware of laws of the respective country. Legal requirements should reflect a codified ethics prevailing in the society and ensures that it represents the main notions of business righteousness, justice and fairness...
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...Final Project Mark Ali Kaplan University Ethics and the Legal Environment April 3, 2012 The Clean Power Company and The Energy Cooperative both face some challenging ethical and legal issues. Every company makes decisions that can effect beyond the managers and employees (Zeigler, Grace 2010). The wrong choices in both these cases can affect the company’s profits, their stockholders, and the shareholders. The two companies also could face potential fines and penalties from the decisions they make. When a business judges the effect of its decision on their stakeholders, that company is practicing Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) (Zeigler, Grace 2010). After reviewing both cases here are my final recommendations. The Energy Cooperative A non-profit organization dedicated to providing education to the public about energy information, new technologies, monitoring new start-up companies, and providing a public forum for complaints. It also provides new alternative energy companies a central hub to discuss new technology. The company is headquartered in Chicago with locations throughout the U.S. and in three cities abroad, Copenhagen, Milan and New Delhi. There are currently 400,000 members worldwide who are made up of professionals in the energy field and non-professionals who have interests in the field. They are all united through the web, here members vote on initiatives, policy changes, and any purchases over $100. There is a board of directors that...
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...Addressing International Legal and Ethical Issues Paper De’Shawn Shinette, Sr. University of Phoenix BUS 415: Business Law James Zaccaria March 16, 2008 Introduction Any solid relationship should begin with a period of introduction, or courtship. The same can be said when a global negotiation venture with a prospective foreign nation business partner has started. The need to know about the culture, background, structure, and goals of the parties involved is important (Negotiation Leadership, 2008). It might be wise to spend the money to hire an experienced consultant, or professional third party to look into the potential partner’s past. In this report two companies (CadMex and Gentura) are attempting a business venture. Before they can move forward a few issues need to be addressed in a memo. Initially an explanation why Gentura might be in breach of contract with CadMex will be given. Next, a discussion of what remedies are available will to be conducted. From there, a recommendation will be made on how the Gentura situation will be handled. An analysis for selecting the proper forum and venue for dispute resolution will be included. Finally, an analysis of the situation from an ethical standpoint will be done in order to support ones recommendation. I. Breach of Contract Breach of a contract between two parties can bring about severe legal issues. Substantial performance occurs when there has been a minor breach of contract (Bereznicki-Korol...
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...Ethical and Legal Issues Merger of Company A & Company B Human Resources Management & Talent Development 07-04-13 Abstract In any merger, there are always legal and ethical issues involved. These issues have to be resolved in order to ensure a successful merger. It is the role of Human Resource personnel to ensure the code of ethics is used in legal and moral implications. The role of the Human resource manager is to create an ethical environment in which all employees are able to enjoy there inalienable rights. These rights will include the accessibility of information about the job, company, and there career and the right not to be coerced into situations. Maintaining these rights will help in reducing stress, establishing trust, increasing productivity and efficiency. This report will document the legal and ethical issues associated with a merger. It will also consist of a detailed implementation plan in resolving these potential ethical and legal issues. A plan for establishing an ethical work environment and resolving ethical and legal issues will be discussed as well. Identify Specific Legal and Ethical Issues involved in Mergers Recently the mergers and acquisitions of firms has become a major trend in business. In the process of mergers and acquisitions, the role of ethics and compliance has become a major step in ensuring success. A breakout session was held just recently on ethics and compliance in mergers and acquisitions. The panel, which featured...
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...HOOPER V. YODER September 9, 2015 The purpose of this paper is to analyze and evaluate a civil court case between Steven J. Hooper v. David Yoder and the role ethical principles played in the case. I would like to address these important points in this paper: * Define common law * Summary of the facts that brought the parties into the courtroom * State the holding of the court * The legal rights and responsibilities of the plaintiff and defendant * The role of ethical theories including Kant and Nozick’s in this case * Propose specific, common sense business practices that may have resolved the conflict Let’s begin with a definition of common law which is applied to all corporations. “Common law is made and applied by judges as they decide cases not governed by statutes or other types of law. Although common law exists only at the state level, both state courts and federal courts become involved in applying it. … Over time, judges began to follow the decisions of other judges in similar cases, called precedents. This practice became formalized in the doctrine of stare decisis” (Mallor, et all, 2010). There were several facts that brought the parties into the courtroom. The litigation began with the conflict between Hooper and Yoder who both started their business in the dairy products field as partners. Surprisingly, there was no formal written agreement for the partnership form of business between them. They created, accepted the rights and shared...
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...Saquoia Cox Professor Currie ACC647Z2 3 October 2015 Legal and Ethical Issues Business Owners Face Legal and ethical issues play a big part in the operation of a business for many owners. Business owners have to take into account many issues such as legal, regulations, safety, liability and brand of the company. Business owners must know their legal responsibilities and code of ethics, because they have to adhere to both when running a business. Many business owners face these issue everyday with changing regulations and laws, making sure that their reporting is ethical and up to standards. "Navigating all of the legislative and regulatory changes that occur throughout the course of the year can be challenging, taking business owners away from other important aspects of running their businesses," said Martin Mucci, Paychex president and CEO. Business owners have to follow state and federal labor laws which can be very taxing on business owners. Business owners have to monitor their tax reforms, because with the Tax Increase Prevention Act of 2014 the processing of taxes will affect the way that business owners have budgeted for their businesses. Business owners are also affected by new health reforms which state that “employers must be prepared to meet new IRS mandates to file annual information returns with the IRS and provide statements to their full-time employees about the health insurance coverage the employer offers” (Brooks, 2015) Business owners have to know...
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...hould companies comply with China’s terms? As our society advances towards a global society, and companies begin to transition themselves into multinational and global organizations, the question of which rules and regulations should the company follow is likely to precipitate. I feel such is the case with China. I believe prior to answering the question of foreign nation compliance, one should examine the reasons why an organization has entered into that foreign market. The primary objective is typically profits, a secondary could be expansion, an initiative to become a globally known brand and gain international market share. Once the fundamental question of “why” is answered, the remaining issues, such as foreign government policies, can be addressed as well. So should a company comply or defy? Proponents of both sides of the fence are up in arms and ready to debate their stance. Proponents argue loss of market share if a company decides to leave a potentially new market, especially an international market. And proponents of defying the compliance terms are citing moral and ethical beliefs which make it wrong to comply with a communist government (http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/5246.html). So who is the victim and who is the winner? I think that both sides are equally at loss as well as gain. If a company decides to leave due to compliance issues, chances are their competitor will step in and dominate that market. It is often difficult for a company to...
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...Douglas L. Kaye LS312: Ethics and the Legal Environment Unit 2 Prof. Craig July 16th, 2013 John Stuart Mill developed a systematic statement of utilitarian ethical theory, which is another ethical theory based on the consequences of actions. The application of this theory involves performing the action that produces the best results for the greatest number of people. Utilitarianism can be further reduced into two sub-categories, act utilitarianism and rule utilitarianism. Followers of act utilitarianism think that in each ethical situation, an individual should perform the action that produces the best results for the majority of people. Rule utilitarianism requires people to construct and follow an established set of rules that should guarantee the best possible outcome for the majority of the people. Critics of both utilitarianism positions argue that it is extremely difficult to determine future consequences for other people. Another problem of utilitarianism is cost benefit analysis. Essentially, in the quest to please the majority, at what point do the minority’s interest become expendable? Assigning value to individuals in this manner, and using them as a means to an end may not always be considered moral behavior in some situations or circumstances (Kemerling, 2011). In the Palm Beach Post this week was a news article titled, "Royal Palm Beach woman charged with opening fake account, stealing $6,000 from bank" which was about a 50-year-old woman, Anna Papa...
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...Running head: ETHICS AND THE LEGAL SYSTEM Ethical Practice of Law and its History Daphne Spann Kaplan University Intro. To Law Abstract The legal system has undergone many changes from its early start in the 19th century of the Canons of Professional Ethics to presently. The law has had to evolve due to the changes of climate in society to stay relevant and within the confines of the US Constitution. The one thing that has been debated and structured into a set of laws and guidelines under one main ruling organization of the American Bar Association is ETHICS. Ethical Practice of Law and its History The history of the establishment of legal ethics has evolved tremendously from the Canon of Ethics (Canons) to rules used today under the American Bar Association (ABA) Model Rules. The Canons are considered the cornerstone of modern of legal ethics and were used as a guideline for ethical conduct since prior to the 19th century there were no real rules regulating the conduct of lawyers. Ethics was based merely “perceptions” of what was considered ethical or drawn from other areas of law relevant to lawyers. The Canons were also considered vague in nature and seemed to focus on what attorneys should not do, while misaddressing the issues of what they should do. These early rules were viewed as a professional courtesy and carried no professional weight. The Canons, however, were still believed to be the historical starting point for the distinct contributions...
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...Unit 8 Assignment Legal Ethics March 5, 2015 Amanda Woods Before answering these questions I will explain what Unauthorized Practice of Law is. Unauthorized Practice of law is when a paralegal gives legal advice to anybody. A paralegal cannot advise a person on the law and what they can and cannot do. For example if a paralegal is asked My mother fell down the steps at her apartment building and the owner of the building has refused to fix the steps and that’s the reason she fell, legally what can we do? The paralegal cannot answer this question because it is a specific question about specific people and a specific incident. If the person had asked if a person fell down the stairs due to negligence what can be done? The paralegal could answer this question because you could find the answer on the internet and because it is a hypothetical question not a specific case. If Mr. Smith calls and leaves a message with Polly Paralegal asking if the grounds for divorce in North Carolina include adultery. Polly Paralegal can answer his question without the fear of Unauthorized Practice of Law because this is a generic question that isn’t specific about any one person or incident. She could easily do the legal research on this question and let him know what the law states. She could also give him the definition of adultery so he knows what it classified as. Because Polly Paralegal is telling Mr. Smith information that he could easily find on the internet it would not...
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...Unit 8 Assignment: Kaplan University: Unauthorized Practice of PA253: Legal Ethics 10/17/2014 Unauthorized Practice of Law Mr. Stan Smith calls his friend, “Polly Paralegal,” and Leaves a message asking, “Do the grounds for divorce In North Carolina include adultery? Later that day, Mrs. Stan Smith calls Polly Paralegal and leaves a message Asking, “Do I have grounds for divorce in North Carolina? I just found out that “Stan” committed adultery.” North Carolina Law: If you or your spouse is engaging in extra-marital “affairs,” then the position of filing an “alienation of Affections” or “criminal conversation lawsuit” against Your spouse paramour” seeking substantial money damages Against your spouse’s paramour. If that is the case, you Are well-advised to obtain proof of his or her affair. Polly Paralegal did not engage in the unauthorized Practice of law. Under the ABA Model Rules, the….Unauthorized practice of law is defined as 84-37 (c) Actions brought under this section shall be the superior Court of any county in which the acts constituting Unauthorized or unlawful practice of law are alleged To have been committed or in which there appear Reasonable grounds that they will be committed or in The county where the defendants in...
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