It’s easy in prosperous times to do the right thing, but it’s a lot harder when the financial pressure is on. Character is barely tested when behaving properly is easy, but most people have a moral breaking point if the circumstances are extreme. No two people are likely to feel pressure in exactly the same way and intolerable pressure for one may be an exciting challenge for another.
The epidemic is changing the rules of behaviour in ways which are as yet uncertain. For law firms, the larger the economic threat, the more their values and beliefs will be tested. The foundations of well-worn expressions of people priorities may begin to crumble. For some who have enjoyed a benign prosperity, a new and unfamiliar balance may have to be struck between their money and their values. It may be that there is a gap between the lowest acceptable standards of business ethics and the integrity expected of lawyers. Is
