Reply To: What to do (law school question) VERY IMPORTANT

Brony, your example is no different from a business owner choosing to cheat someone and confiding in his employee. It is not unique to a lawyer. If there is any doubt about the necessity for a disclosure, it is up to the senior associate or perhaps the partner to make the determination. Certainly a junior associate should feel comfortable saying, “I understand you don’t think it’s worthy of disclosure but if you don’t mind I am going to run it by Stephen*”.

If there is no doubt about the necessity for disclosure, and the senior says, “I don’t care, nobody will find out” then the junior should escalate it to the partner and yes, threaten to quit and blow the whistle. But, as with bakeries making poison bread on the last day of pesach, it doesn’t really happen anymore.

*In this scenario, the partner’s name is Stephen.