4 ms·

> former is more an ethical issue than a criminal one Isn't addressing (relevant) ethical issues a big part of what disbarment is for? If there's an actual cr

> former is more an ethical issue than a criminal one Isn't addressing (relevant) ethical issues a big part of what disbarment is for? If there's an actual criminal issue, lawyers can still be prosecuted.

devilbunny 3y ago
There are ethical issues, and there are ethical issues. I can't say much about law, as IANAL (except to note that there are a lot of divorce attorneys who will help their clients celebrate the dissolution of their marriage by sleeping with them), but I am a doctor, and the philosophy of "don't sleep with your patients" is in our ethics. But where do the boundaries lie? In, say, psychiatry, it's never ethically acceptable to sleep with your former patients. They're off-limits. But if the therapeutic relationship is absent (radiologist, pathologist - they never saw your face), or minimal (I'm an anesthesiologist, and if I were single I'd have no compunction about dating someone I'd put to sleep once for an unremarkable surgery, and I don't think ER doctors should be prohibited from dating someone whose shoulder they popped back into joint once), there's really no risk of abuse of power because there's no ongoing professional relationship. If the personal relationship is a direct consequence of the professional one, and the power is unequal because of that, then it's ethically problematic. If they're purely coincidental, it's probably not. And from what I know of the law, lawyers sleeping with their clients happens - but it's usually not ethically challenging.
- NoZebra120vClip 3y ago
  > if the therapeutic relationship is absent (radiologist...) I think I'm turning Japanese.
- dllthomas 3y ago
  I didn't mean to imply that there isn't a relevant distinction, in light of which this behavior should not lead to disbarment; certainly some examples of unethical behavior should not. I'm just saying that distinction is not "ethical vs criminal".
  - devilbunny 3y ago
    I see your point now. Sorry for the misunderstanding. I do think that some things that are nominally unethical are not, in practice, unethical at all.
s1artibartfast 3y ago
When you get down to it, there isnt anything inherently unethical about consensual sexual relations with a client. There is a possibility of abuse, and the appearance of impropriety, but the reality of these characteristics can only be determined on a case by case basis.

devilbunny 3y ago

There are ethical issues, and there are ethical issues. I can't say much about law, as IANAL (except to note that there are a lot of divorce attorneys who will help their clients celebrate the dissolution of their marriage by sleeping with them), but I am a doctor, and the philosophy of "don't sleep with your patients" is in our ethics. But where do the boundaries lie? In, say, psychiatry, it's never ethically acceptable to sleep with your former patients. They're off-limits. But if the therapeutic relationship is absent (radiologist, pathologist - they never saw your face), or minimal (I'm an anesthesiologist, and if I were single I'd have no compunction about dating someone I'd put to sleep once for an unremarkable surgery, and I don't think ER doctors should be prohibited from dating someone whose shoulder they popped back into joint once), there's really no risk of abuse of power because there's no ongoing professional relationship. If the personal relationship is a direct consequence of the professional one, and the power is unequal because of that, then it's ethically problematic. If they're purely coincidental, it's probably not. And from what I know of the law, lawyers sleeping with their clients happens - but it's usually not ethically challenging.

NoZebra120vClip 3y ago
> if the therapeutic relationship is absent (radiologist...) I think I'm turning Japanese.
dllthomas 3y ago
I didn't mean to imply that there isn't a relevant distinction, in light of which this behavior should not lead to disbarment; certainly some examples of unethical behavior should not. I'm just saying that distinction is not "ethical vs criminal".
- devilbunny 3y ago
  I see your point now. Sorry for the misunderstanding. I do think that some things that are nominally unethical are not, in practice, unethical at all.

s1artibartfast 3y ago

When you get down to it, there isnt anything inherently unethical about consensual sexual relations with a client. There is a possibility of abuse, and the appearance of impropriety, but the reality of these characteristics can only be determined on a case by case basis.