About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

6 U. St. Thomas L.J. 358 (2008-2009)
Ethical Leadership in Professional Life

handle is hein.journals/usthomlj6 and id is 360 raw text is: ARTICLE ETHICAL LEADERSHIP IN PROFESSIONAL LIFE NEIL W. HAMILTON* INTRODUCTION The economy is in yet another train wreck with $50 trillion in wealth erased on a global basis over the last 18 months caused by failures of mor- ally responsible leadership in both the government and private financial sector.' Virtually no leaders in either government or the private financial sector are undertaking a self-assessment to ask about personal responsibility for their catastrophic failures and what can be learned to improve in the future. The legal profession, more than other occupations, dominates leader- ship positions with formal directing authority in government regulation of the financial sector and plays a major leadership role through positions of persuasion and influence in shaping the decisions of private financial sector enterprises. It follows that the legal profession and legal education should undertake an assessment of the profession's role in the financial sector ca- tastrophe. Among the private-sector gatekeeper occupations (those people trusted to protect the public from unlawful conduct and catastrophic failures of prudence by boards and executive management, including rating agen- cies, auditors, accountants and lawyers), the legal profession plays a uniquely important role. In comparison with rating agencies, accountants * Professor of Law and Director of the Holloran Center for Ethical Leadership in the Pro- fessions. My research assistants, Laura Hammargren, Meghann Kantke, and Dan Olson gave me invaluable assistance on this paper. John Berry, Robert Cullen, Tom Holloran, Tom Mengler, Dan Pennie, Hank Shea, Greg Sisk, Stan Stroup, Scott Taylor, and Rob Vischer also gave useful sug- gestions to improve earlier drafts of the essay. 1. Kevin Hall, Top Economic Adviser: The 'Excess of Fear' Must Be Broken, STAR TRIB. (Minneapolis-St.Paul), Mar. 14, 2009, at A3. While investigations will uncover some actual fraud, this catastrophic failure of our government and private financial sector leaders is not principally the result of criminal wrongdoing. Rather, many leaders failed with respect to the virtue of pru- dence. Prudence (from the Latin prudentia meaning foresight) is the ability to discern sensible and right action in the circumstances of a given time and place using foresight, reason, and self- control. Essentially, excessive short-term self interest caused extraordinary failures of prudential judgment about leverage and risk. Neil Hamilton, The Financial Sector's Catastrophic Failure of Prudence: A Time for Self-Assessment, MINN. LAW., Dec. 15, 2008, at A10.

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most