A friend of mine is a very successful trial lawyer. Occasionally, we'll meet for lunch and get caught up on things. Yesterday, we began discussing professional ethics and how it related to our different fields. Eventually, we drifted into the nature of ethical dilemmas and I asked her if she had ever been faced with one.
She took a sip of her wine and thought for a moment before speaking. "I think the worst one I ever had was about five years after I went into business with Maynard." She smiled at the memory. "I was doing wills and trusts back then and one of my regular customers, a rich widow, had requested a minor change to her will. This was only a moment's work and, in deference to her history, I only charged her a hundred dollars." She took another sip of her wine. "When she came to pick it up, she fumbled around in her purse and came out with a crisp one hundred dollar bill, folded in half. I took it from her and put it in my pocket as I stood and then escorted her to the front door. When I returned to my office, I removed the bill from my pocket and discovered that there was a second bill stuck to the first. She had accidentally given me two hundred dollars instead of one." She shook her head. "This was the first time that I had found myself in an ethical dilemma. I had to make a choice and I wasn't sure what to do." She paused again for another sip. "Should I say nothing about it and keep the extra hundred for myself? Or should I share it with my partner, Maynard?"
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