One of the reasons that I became an attorney is that I felt it was (is!) an honorable profession that helps make the world a better place. One of my law professors described my legal education as both a sword & a shield. The shield is so you can defend yourself, or your clients, from wrongs that may be committed against you or them. The sword is so you can go an actively smite wrong doers that may have harmed you (or them), or attempted to do so. I like that idea. While I am a live and let live person by nature, I cannot stomach people who try and take advantage of others. Someone needs to be willing to stand up to the wrong doer.
So, it always saddens me when I hear of lawyers behaving badly. As attorneys, we have ethical obligations to be honest, fair, etc. Because we are officers of the court, and due to the nature of our training, we must adhere to a higher standard. There's little that is very tricky--most of the ethical rules are pretty common sense. Nevertheless, every month there are new reports released of lawyers doing something fundamentally wrong.
The latest I saw (in The Daily Transcript this week) is a law firm that is being sued by Yelp for allegedly using its own employees posing as clients to write positive reviews on Yelp about their own firm. OK, back one step: you've heard of Yelp, right? It is a website that will give you the scoop on good restaurants, doctors, solar panel providers--you name it, Yelp may have a category for it. Moreover, Yelp reviewers (Yelpers?) are normal people who tell you about their experiences, and you get to take their opinion for whatever it is worth. Frankly, some of the reviews are pretty bizarre, but hey--give their opinion whatever weight you think it merits!
Now, if your a law firm, you might think that you'd know better than to write bogus reviews about your own firm, right? Right?
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