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Law Firm Financial Impropriety
Funds can come up missing in any law firm, and the cause can be intentional theft that qualifies as fraud or embezzlement, or an unintentional mistake that shows poor judgment. Lawyers and law firm staff can be involved in either case, but when dishonest conduct is committed by others in the firm, the lawyers are still themselves ethically responsible. Various factors make law firms susceptible to such problems: part-time lawyer management, lawyers' lack of business competency, and decentralized authority to bill clients and approve disbursements.
Theoretically, financial impropriety should not be an issue in a firm that adheres to accepted ethical standards. For lawyers, ABA Model Rule of Professional Conduct 8.4 prohibits any “criminal act that reflects adversely on the lawyer's honesty, trustworthiness or fitness as a lawyer” as well as “conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit or misrepresentation.” The Rules are equally clear for staff: The commentary on Rule 5.3 notes that “a lawyer must give ' assistants appropriate instruction and supervision concerning the ethical aspects of their employment.” However, in an accounting sense, deviations from the straight and narrow by lawyers or staff can happen in any firm. Consider the two scenarios mentioned above: intentional theft and unintentional mistake.
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