Ethics - The Impact of Your Choices (On-Demand)
On-Demand Webinar
On-Demand Webinar: Ethics: The Impact of Your Choices
60-minute presentation
All day nearly every day, prosecutors face innumerable decisions that have a lasting impact on the lives of others. More often than you may realize, those decisions implicate your basic ethical obligations as attorneys and your higher ethical obligations as prosecutors. However, you will realize whether it be in charging, negotiating or even taking the case to trial that while ethical rules may allow you to proceed, such a course may not fully align with your individual guiding principles. Similarly, you may realize that longstanding practices and policies that have operated without scrutiny for years create uncomfortable ethical questions and demand changes that seem institutionally impossible. Even in the most ordinary of a prosecutor’s daily tasks, difficult ethical questions arise that impact due process, fundamental fairness, and the legitimacy of the American criminal justice system. Doing the right thing isn’t always easy. These are the moments that define you as a prosecutor, and understanding the power of your choices is a powerful tool to help guide you.
The lives and careers of the two attorneys leading this presentation have been profoundly shaped by their personal histories: one as a criminal defendant, the other as a victim of violent crime. Theirs are compelling stories that will truly challenge your sense of moral courage and make you wonder if you could make the right decisions as a prosecutor given the same circumstances. Using their personal stories as case studies, this CLE will explore both common and uncommon situations that highlight the hard decisions you will face, and it will discuss ways to navigate them thoughtfully and ethically.