| Description |
If the legal profession is serious about attorney disclosure of client financial misconduct, it must address the costs disclosure creates for lawyers who blow the whistle. Taking costs into account offers a more complete picture of the economic incentives and disincentives faced by lawyer who must decide whether to disclose financial scams. I offer a proposal to address these costs and encourage lawyers to disclose more frequently: states and the federal government should grant immunity from civil, criminal, and administrative liability to the first participant in a financial scam to disclose the scam, whether a lawyer, accountant, another professional, or even the client itself...Part I of this Essay explains why these amendments are unlikely to produce much actual disclosure. Part II outlines my proposal and explains why states and the federal government should experiment with giving lawyers incentives to disclose. Part III describes and responds to the main criticisms of my proposal. (Description from Source) |