what if a lawyer tells you to break the law can you

A lawyer or law firm is not able to help you break the law. If you tell a lawyer that you want to move millions of dollars of drug money into the country, they cannot assist. The client-lawyer privilege does not mean the lawyer can help you break the law.

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What are the consequences of breaking the law?

The Consequences of Breaking the Law. When an individual is convicted of a criminal offense, there are three primary punishments that he/she will be issued: community service, a fine, or imprisonment. Frequently, if an individual has committed a minor misdemeanor offense, he/she will be required to complete community service or pay...

What to do if your attorney is not doing their job?

If you believe that your attorney is not doing his or her job or if you have issues with your lawyer, you need to speak to our law firm immediately. While relying on attorneys to handle litigation, settlements, and lawsuits is normally beneficial for the public, there are times when these individuals fall short of their expected skills.

Why won’t my lawyer Call Me Back?

To figure out why your lawyer may not be returning your calls, try and deal with the situation by writing them a letter or email or even faxing their office explaining your issues with the current—or lack thereof–communication and asking for a phone call or a meeting to restore your relationship.

Is it ever morally right to break the law?

Therefore, it can indeed be morally right, and even indicated, to break the law in certain situations. Often you’ll hear the opinion: “What do I need ethics for?

What should you not say to a lawyer?

Five things not to say to a lawyer (if you want them to take you..."The Judge is biased against me" Is it possible that the Judge is "biased" against you? ... "Everyone is out to get me" ... "It's the principle that counts" ... "I don't have the money to pay you" ... Waiting until after the fact.

What to do if a client tells you they are guilty?

If your client confesses you are generally under no obligation to present that information to the court. Rather, you are duty-bound by attorney-client privilege to protect your client's statements and to provide a proper legal defense.

What is the most common complaint against lawyers?

Perhaps the most common kinds of complaints against lawyers involve delay or neglect. This doesn't mean that occasionally you've had to wait for a phone call to be returned. It means there has been a pattern of the lawyer's failing to respond or to take action over a period of months.

What is it called when a lawyer messes up?

What is Legal Malpractice? Legal malpractice is when an attorney makes a grievous error in handling a case. Lawyers are held to a general standard and codes of ethical and professional conduct.

Can a lawyer snitch on you?

The attorney-client privilege is a rule that protects the confidentiality of communications between lawyers and clients. Under the rule, attorneys may not divulge their clients' secrets, nor may others force them to.

Does a lawyer have to defend someone they know is guilty?

However, there are strict rules in place that govern the how legal practitioners conduct themselves when faced with such a dilemma. Can a Criminal Lawyer Defend Someone They Know is Guilty? A criminal lawyer can defend someone they know is guilty as long as they do not lie or knowingly mislead the court.

How can you tell when a lawyer is lying?

How do you know a lawyer is lying?They tell you that they are known as the “best” at what they do. ... They guarantee you will win. ... They “specialize” in whatever your problem is. ... They call themselves a “father's rights” or “mother's rights” attorney in a custody case.More items...•

Can I sue a lawyer for lying?

No matter what name the agency in your state goes by, they will have a process you can use to file a complaint against your attorney for lying or being incompetent. Examples of these types of behavior include: Misusing your money. Failing to show up at a court hearing.

What happens if a lawyer lies to a judge?

If a lawyer lies to the Judge about something that is within his own knowledge -- such as something the lawyer did or didn't do during the lawsuit, then he can be suspended or disbarred. However, it's important to distinguish what you mean by a "lawyer lying" from examples when a lawyer is not really lying.

Why do lawyers ignore you?

If your attorney is not experienced or efficient, they may have missed a deadline or made another mistake and aren't willing to confess their error. There could also be some bad news that is entirely outside of the attorney's control.

Are lawyers liable for mistakes?

Even where an attorney made an obvious mistake, that mistake must have injured the client. The classic example of negligence is the attorney who did not file a lawsuit before the statute of limitations expired.

What is it called when a lawyer doesn't do his job?

Legal malpractice is a type of negligence in which a lawyer does harm to his or her client. Typically, this concerns lawyers acting in their own interests, lawyers breaching their contract with the client, and, one of the most common cases of legal malpractice, is when lawyers fail to act on time for clients.

What are the consequences of breaking the law?

The Consequences of Breaking the Law. When an individual is responsible for engaging in a criminal offense and breaking laws, he/she will experience consequences of his/her actions. There are many different types of crimes in which an individual may partake. Each crime involves different actions of varying severity.

What are the punishments for a crime?

When an individual is convicted of a criminal offense, there are three primary punishments that he/she will be issued: community service, a fine, or imprisonment.

You Killed Someone, Now What?

Let’s assume you committed the act, you killed someone. Is it murder? Are you going to be sentenced to life in jail? Not necessarily.

Can you admit a crime to your lawyer?

The short answer is yes. You are protected by something called client-attorney (or lawyer) privilege.

Can you confess a crime to your lawyer?

If you have not committed the criminal act yet, the lawyer would possibly even have to report it. You might say that you are planning to murder a child, the lawyer will have to act to stop this from happening.

Why are employees not protected from criminal prosecution?

However, employees will not be shielded from criminal prosecution simply because they felt their job was threatened if they did not commit the act. There may be several protections available to employees who refuse to commit crimes at the directive of their employer.

Why is whistleblower law important?

Because the general public is served by whistleblower information, these laws seek to protect and encourage workers who are trying to protect others by informing on their employers. Under a whistleblower law, the usual fact pattern is that an employee reports that the employer is committing some illegal act.

What happens if an employee does not report misconduct?

If it does not, the employee may not be protected. Others support a good faith effort and provide protection even if illegal conduct is not ultimately found. Other laws protect employees who refuse to commit illegal acts whether or not they report the misconduct.

Is whistleblower a violation of public policy?

Violation of Public Policy. Even if there is not a specific whistleblower statute on point or the conduct does not quite rise to the level required in the statute, another protection may be provided by arguing that the employer’s conduct is in violation of public policy.

Can an employee be fired for reporting retaliation?

These laws usually prevent an employee from being fired for reporting such conduct or from retaliation by the employer. However, the individual law that may pertain to the case may specify a particular procedure that is required to trigger protection.

Can an employee be fired for reporting an employer's misconduct?

Employees may have grounds for a wrongful termination lawsuit if they are terminated for reporting their employer’s illegal conduct or because they refuse to obey an employer’s illegal orders. Under this legal theory, the aggrieved employee alleges that allowing the employer to fire the employee is against public policy, meaning that it is bad for society at large to allow an unjust outcome that sets a bad precedent for future cases. In accordance with this public policy argument, the plaintiff alleges that society encourages honest employees to come forward to report fraud, safety issues or other misconduct in order to protect the greater good. As such, the employer should not be permitted to violate this public policy by terminating the employee.

Why is it important to be critical and sceptical about laws?

Many of the laws of any given country are best ignored, rather than followed blindly, and this is why one has to be critical and sceptical about the laws and always keep questioning whether particular laws actually are morally right or not.

What do we decide about morally right and wrong?

In the end, we all, as individuals, are called to decide what we consider to be morally right and wrong. It is part of what makes us human that we cannot give away this decision, and let others decide for us. Each one of us needs to decide for themselves which actions they want to consider morally right or wrong, ...

Why is ethics dangerous?

But this is a dangerous view. It is dangerous because morality has this absolute claim to direct one’s actions. Ethics gives us rules that we are supposed to follow unconditionally, without ever questioning them: you should not steal, you should be honest, you should be loyal, and so on.

Is ethics the same as law?

Or is ethics the same thing as the law? Ethics and the law are not the same. We can think of many examples of morally right actions that are against the law (for example, crossing a red traffic light in order to save someone’s life on the other side of the street). There are also examples of the opposite, morally wrong actions ...

Is it legal to search for tax loopholes?

Legal but immoral actions are also common. For example, it is legal to search for tax law loopholes and to try to game the system in order to reduce one’s taxes. This can go so far that companies will move their international headquarters to improbable places like some Caribbean islands or Ireland, just to avoid paying regular taxes in their real country of origin (and business). Although such behaviour is legal, it is clearly immoral. A company that makes billions of dollars from consumers in a particular country is morally obliged to pay taxes in that country, and in this way to contribute to that country’s social security systems, public infrastructure, healthcare, schools and so on. Escaping this responsibility, even if it’s legal, is not morally right.

Is the law made by people fallible?

The people making our laws are fallible, they can make mistakes; often enough they are greedy, perhaps corrupt, they can be bribed and lobbied, or they serve particular interest groups. So that, in the end, the laws made by such people are not necessarily worthy of being obeyed unconditionally. Many of the laws of any given country are best ...

Is it possible to see that laws and ethics are not the same?

One way to see that laws and ethics are not the same is to try to find examples of cases where an action is legal but immoral; or illegal but morally right. Clearly, if we could find such cases, then we would know that the two categories cannot mean the same thing; we would also know that one cannot be entirely contained within the other, ...