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Reinventing The Law Business: 2 Ethical Traps For Even The Wary

Managing partner Bruce Stachenfeld identifies two places where he has seen even completely honorable and ethical people go astray without realizing it.

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Bruce Stachenfeld

Bruce Stachenfeld

I guess I am not sure this is “reinventing” the law business, but it sure is something you don’t want to have happen — if you fall into these traps, you might not have a law business to reinvent in the first place. Of course no one wants to find herself inadvertently in an ethical mess. And, of course, we all know the rules and obvious things like don’t lie, cheat, steal, “pad” your bills, or do things like that. However, there are two places where I have seen even completely honorable and ethical people go astray without realizing it. Since these two traps are so easy to fall into, I am outlining them here.

The first one is you do something wrong because “he did it first!” We all learn this when we are young kids. Some kid steals your toy truck so you steal that kid’s toy truck. Despite your righteousness and your unimpeachable “he did it first!” defense, you learn that the argument just doesn’t work on your mom or dad. You still stole the other kid’s truck, and that was “wrong.”

Despite us knowing this, I still see it happen. Someone is rude to you, so you are rude back. Someone lies to you, so you feel that now it is okay to lie to that person. Someone does something that you perceive is “wrong,” so you feel a license to do that to the wrongdoer. It feels right at the time, but then when you think on it – after the fact – you realize you have been tricked into doing something you are not proud of by the actions of the other party. I advocate not giving that party that power over you – to coax or goad you – ever – into doing any behavior you are not proud of.

The second one is that you do something wrong because “everyone else is doing it so it must be okay.”  Often many people are doing whatever it is and 99 percent of them get away with it, until a third party – usually the government – cracks down and picks a few random people to “make an example of.”  Those people are horribly treated – maybe even go to jail – and everyone else sneaks off with a sigh of relief. Those who are victimized by the crackdown feel how unjust it is – and from a fairness point of view it is indeed unjust, as usually just a few get punished for the sins of many – but if you break the rules, this is a risk you have. Consider steroids, doping, and other scandals in sports. Everyone supposedly does it/did it in some sports, but if you are the one who gets caught, no one has any sympathy for you based on this argument.

I have tried my best not to fall into these traps, and the only way I can think of is to be mindful of the following:

  • Try to be a class act – always – don’t let someone ever trick you into behaving in a way you are not proud of.
  • Be friendly and flexible in all things except one – which is rigidly hewing to the laws, the rules, and ethical conduct.
  • Be mindful of the fact that whether you realize it or not, everyone is “watching” your behavior. If someone sees you fall into one of the traps above, she will in the back of her mind always see you as someone who behaves in this manner. If, however, you are one who follows the foregoing rules, she will see that too, and it will help you in your life.

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Finally – I am always mindful that all of my actions will be construed by others in the absolute worst light possible.

Sorry if this is preachy sounding. I don’t mean to be that way, but this is how I try my best to do things to both feel good about myself and at the same

Bruce Stachenfeld is the managing partner of Duval & Stachenfeld LLP, which is an approximately 70-lawyer law firm based in midtown Manhattan. The firm is known as “The Pure Play in Real Estate Law” because all of its practice areas are focused around real estate. With more than 50 full-time real estate lawyers, the firm is one of the largest real estate law practices in New York City. You can contact Bruce by email at [email protected].

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