There are tons of myths about lawyers/attorneys. One myth, or, misunderstanding is that all attorneys are rich, or at least that they are well off. If that were the case, I would have a big IRA waiting for me in retirement. That is partially why I quit.
Last night while watching Lawrence O'Donnell, I saw another.
Last night, Nick Acocella of Politifax NJ relied on one of these myths to support his assessment that Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno, more likely than not, had not threatened Mayor Dawn Zimmer with respect to withholding Sandy funds if there was no approval of the development project that the Rockefeller Group wanted. What was the bases of his assessment? Well, he believes that because she is an attorney, and had been in the US Attorney's office, she would be too smart to cross the line from legality to illegality.
Sorry Mr. Acocella, but that is one of the dumbest things I have ever heard. My intention is not to bash attorneys, but to dispel this rather ridiculous fallacious argument.
Lawyers do stupid things all the time. There are many reasons why they do stupid things, some which cross the ethical line, and some that go straight to down right illegal acts.
Many attorneys get into ethical problems purely by accident. They may have too heavy a case load so they drop the ball on something; they may not keep in contact with a client; they may try to cut a corner here and there that isn't in the best interest of the client.
Other attorneys get into trouble ethically or legally because they get into financial trouble on a personal or professional level. They may do a little dipping into the client trust account for some needed money before they have earned the money and then fudge the books, or the retainer agreement, to try to show they did earn it.
Yet other attorneys are just morally corrupt. Whereas the other two groups may have started out wanting to be good upstanding members of the bar, this group just doesn't give a shit. They will do anything and everything to get ahead financially or otherwise even if it is unethical and/or illegal.
And before the usual suspects chime in and tell me I don't know what the hell I am talking about, I do. My first year in practice turned into a supporting role in the play, "How to Get Disbarred" starring my employer. My role, that of young associate who gives the bar the evidence to take my bosses license away. Luckily, the play didn't run long. I got out of the job, and my boss took the option of voluntarily being disbarred as opposed to going through the adversarial process.
So, with respect to Lt. Gov. Guadagno, I do not know if she did what Mayor Zimmer alleges. It is way early in the investigative process to make that determination. What I do know is that even smart people, including smart attorneys can do some really stupid things.
There is also a theme that seems to be running through the whole Jerseygate thing: all these people think they are smarter than anyone else. Arrogance and condescension oozes of these people. They think that no one can touch them. They might be surprised.
Arrogance is a dangerous thing. It makes you do stupid things. It is sort of like the hotshot bomb disposal expert who thinks they can do anything and then blows themselves up.
Also it should be noted that not all attorneys are even smart. Some attorneys are just downright stupid, not saying Guadagno is by the way, just saying. Further, some attorneys can be totally brilliant in one area of the law and dumb as a rock in another. And lastly there is a reason for the saying of "an attorney who represents themselves has a fool for a client". When you are in the game so to speak, you can lose perspective, lose objectivity. Those warning signs that would be sending red flags up if an attorney were representing someone else can be entirely missed by that same attorney who is in the thick of something.
So the whole, "she/he is too experienced, or too smart" to get herself/himself into such a mess is a myth. It is a red herring.