Eternal Rationalizations of the Legal Mind

February 2, 2006 | Filed Under In the News 

Is there any limit to a creative lawyer’s ability to find a way to finagle a fee?

A case in point: this story in the Washington Post about retired lawyer Robert M. Mardirosian, who allegedly held pieces of stolen art “hostage” for 28 years while he tried to land a reward for its return. One was a still life by Paul Cezanne.

According to the WaPo:

Mardirosian said that when he discovered the paintings in 1979, the alleged thief, David Colvin, had been shot to death by two men seeking to collect on a debt. The lawyer said he considered returning the works to their owner, Michael Bakwin, who lived in Stockbridge at the time, but changed his mind when he discovered that none of the art was insured.

Mardirosian, 71, hid the paintings in Monaco and then in a Swiss bank while he said he worked to recoup 10 percent of their value from Bakwin. He set up a shell company to facilitate a trade or sale.

Here’s a recent picture of Mardirosian, Esq.:

a bag in the attic

And this might be him as rendered by Cezanne:

Is there something about law school that gives lawyers near super-human powers to rationalize almost anything, given enough time to think up a plan?

We may need a dose of ethical Kryptonite, now and then.

Boeing GC Takes Off on Ethics

February 1, 2006 | Filed Under Compliance, In the News 

Every so often a general counsel is invited to speak to company leadership on the state of the ethical ship.

According to the Seattle Times, Boeing GC Douglas Bain actually dropped the gloves and spoke candidly to a company that has been mired in compliance issues and governmental investigations.

Here’s something that distinguishes Mr. Bain from the stereotypical run-of-the-mill, buttoned-down GC:

He appeared to take the “scared straight” approach, personalizing the scandals for his executive audience. “These are not ZIP codes,” Bain said, as he rattled off the federal prisoner numbers of Darleen Druyun, formerly a top Air Force procurement officer and then a Boeing executive, and Mike Sears, former Boeing chief financial officer.

I have suggested using a picture from the results of a previous corporate prosecution as a means to liven up ethics training sessions.

The WSJ Law Blog is also on this, courtesy of the Corporate Crime Reporter.

Like safety briefings at the start of a commercial flight, the standard ethics training can induce attendees to daydream or worse.

Thanks to Mr. Bain, Boeing’s leadership are perhaps now in a more upright and locked position.

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