The Ethical Barometer

Those who do public speaking are always unnerved when somone in the audience gets up and walks out whilst you are offering your thoughts.  Sometimes the rebel simply needs a restroom.  Sometimes the rebel has a ringing cell phone.  But, this January, the Barometer was speaking to a group that included a member of Congress.  He lasted about five minutes in a speech on ethics.  He just left — returning only in time for the next speaker. That congressman has emerged in the news as a beneficiary of a deal for his state. Continue reading →

What do John Yoo, Jay Bybee, and Ira Sorkin have in common?  The obvious answer is that they are all lawyers.  Another answer is that they have been all over the news.  One more layer is that they have been vilified because they represented widely unpopular clients. Mr. Yoo and Mr. Bybee offered the legal opinions on interrogation techniques during their years in the Justice Department. Mr. Sorkin represented Bernie Madoff.  Now, name just one of the lawyers currently serving in the Justice Department who has, in the past, represented clients housed in Gitmo.  You can’t, right?  In fact, we had a little trouble getting at the names of seven of them because their boss, Attorney General Holder, stood sullen and mute on requests for disclosure. Therein lies the real issue in the heated debated over these lawyers and their former pro bono work for Gitmo detainees.  The Barometer stands firm on the noble role of counsel for ALL clients.  The Barometer asks only that the nobility label apply to all counsel, regardless of the political ideology and/or conduct of their clients. Continue reading →

A forthcoming article in the Academy of Management Journal presents research that supports what “Seven Signs” readers have known since 2006: High-performing companies are more likely to break the law.  As readers of ‘Seven Signs” also know, pressure (P=f(x)), hubris, the inability to accept a setback, and the failure to remember “it ain’t your money” are the reasons managers at high-performing companies go ethically nutso. Continue reading →

David Letterman had his share of intern jokes during the Clinton years.  What goes around comes around.

Mr. Letterman has had a continuing line of Palin family jokes, one of which warranted picketing.  God don’t like ugly.

Glass houses and all.  The Barometer has no more pearls on this one.  Mr. Letterman needs a moral compass.