In all jurisdictions of law, is it unethical for a lawyer to view engage conduct that may have special influences over a judicial official? Many conduct this as a form of bribery attempt to influence the outcome of the case. Officials may be influence many ways; more directly, through social interaction, churches and clubs some do not understand that these can serve as a common unethical behavior in a law office.
In addition, there are several methods of influencing public officials by formally trying to befriend them in order to sway the official in their favor. These may include regular meetings, gifts, casual parties, and dinner with families. These types of pressures may come from what is called lobbyist which propose an opposition through a group or adversaries by expressing their opinion in a political argument.
With all these opportunities, would it sway a Judge’s opinion in favor of the legalist positions for their acquaintances? A graduate student, by the name of Barb Dybwad, from Smith College, recognizes the conclusions or problems of Judge and attorneys befriending one another. As the article presents, Florida has banned the friending “between Judges and lawyers on social media sites although they are allowed to “follow, or fan” them via Twitter or Facebook. (Dybwad, 2009)
In the world of what is ethical and what is not it, has always been illegal to bribe someone in accepting money for beneficial favors. Overall it poses a question of whether small tokens of appreciation may constitute as a bribe, although there are specific rules for someone trying to gain favors in social events and which are commonly referred to as lobbyist. Someone may, through the arts of persuasion, gain votes for legislation that may benefit a lobbyist employer.
At this point, there is no solution on how to handling social media interactions and won’t be anytime soon.
However, I personally think there is a reasonable solution although some may argue; we are all adults and demonstrate appropriate levels of competence. Judge(s) and attorney(s) are both offices of the court and base their understandings on work experience as well education. Commonly, a judge and an attorney may have social interactions as well discuss something about their personal lives, but would these affect things in the court room? Couldn’t we put in request to change venue or judge, generally not unless a judge must recuse or is unqualified of their legal duties? While these circumstances would be unethical, gifts and friending are unacceptable they are a delegation or meeting on behalf of another and become an everyday concern and are being constantly regulated to prevent benefits from being exchanged.
Dybwad, B. (2009, December 10th). Florida to Judges: Don’t Facebook Friend Lawyers. Retrieved May 28th, 2012, from Mashable Tech: http://mashable.com/2009/12/10/florida-bans-lawyer-friends/
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