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  • Essay / A Personal and Professional Ethical Analysis of The Drunk Vegas Lawyer Mistrial

    SummaryThis article explores and serves as a reaction to the video titled "Drunk Vegas Lawyer Mistrial." A brief summary of the video will be provided along with an analysis of a Nevada defense attorney's actions in court. His actions will be examined as well as whether or not those actions model ethical behavior and meet moral and professional guidelines. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Week 3 Assignment: Personal and Professional Ethics Ethics, or the debate between right and wrong, is a constantly debated and subjective issue depending on personal viewpoints. and special circumstances. People also generally have personal and professional ethics that sometimes coincide, conflict, or remain independent of each other. In some cases, personal ethics can be influenced by professional ethics and vice versa. In the video titled “Drunk Vegas Lawyer Mistrial,” numerous violations of personal and professional ethics are noted. In the video mentioned above, which takes place on August 3, 2006, a Nevada criminal defense attorney appears in court late in the middle of a kidnapping trial. Once in court, the lawyer informed the judge that he was late because he had been involved in a hit-and-run car accident. After changing his story several times, speaking with the judge in chambers, and being caught in several lies, the judge finally ordered the attorney to take a portable breathalyzer to determine his blood alcohol content (BAC). After taking the test nearly two and a half hours after his first court appearance, the lawyer's blood alcohol level is close to 0.08, indicating he had a fair amount of alcohol in his agency (The Attorney Depot, 2012). The first ethical problem in this situation is that the lawyer shows up late to court because he is intoxicated. In the video, he can be heard slurring his speech, swaying and getting up to speak with the judge. I think it is extremely unethical for a lawyer to appear in court in this manner. It is also extremely unfair to his client who risked being charged with kidnapping and facing a life sentence. At one point, the lawyer mentions that he has been practicing law for sixteen years and was ready to move forward with the trial. Due to his intoxication, the lawyer also creates a story that he was involved in a hit-and-run accident in which his vehicle was struck from behind, making him late. The judge finds several gaps in his story which reveal that the lawyer was not telling the truth. The attorney's overall behavior was unethical in my opinion. As a seasoned lawyer and officer of the court, he is someone who should understand that such behavior is not only unethical but also a violation of legal procedure. As stated in the course text, lawyers must follow certain principles in an attorney/client relationship, including: "Treat clients/relationships in a professional manner, do not deliberately engage in deceptive behavior, avoid causing harm to others, be loyal to the client and make sound moral decisions Additionally, it is evident that the lawyer in this video is not following these moral guidelines and is not taking his client into consideration (Braswell, McCarthy, & McCarthy, 2015). ).Besides the lawyer's blatantly unethical behavior, a second possible ethical risk The problem.