Scenario 1

Julie's client, Jonah, needs Legal Aid to pay for a barrister in an upcoming criminal hearing. The application form is lengthy and complex and requires Jonah to provide financial information to which he does not have immediate access.

The hearing is next week and Julie needs to have the application lodged promptly if aid is to be granted, so she asks Jonah to sign the application "as is" (without the financial details inserted). Julie intends to insert the information when Jonah phones her with the details. But in the rush to prepare for the hearing, Julie honestly forgets that the application is unfinished and even though signed, the form is lodged in an incomplete state. The application may be rejected and Julie would be unable to get the hearing adjourned to allow a reapplication for legal aid.

What is the ethical position as to whether Julie should have signed the document prematurely?

How would a virtue ethicist analyse and answer this problem?	How would a utilitarian analyse and answer this problem?	Relevant conduct rules/principles?	The likely decision, taking both moral methods and relevant rules into account

Scenario 2

You have been working as a trainee in a law firm for eighteen months. Your partner is about to have a baby and you are excited, but also anxious as to how you will make ends meet financially while your partner is on maternity leave.

You commute to work by train. One morning as you put away your tickets, you notice that your Young Persons railcard is about to expire. This currently allows you to save 1/3 off your travel costs, so when it expires this will add a considerable amount of extra money to your household budget, which is already very stretched. At the same time, you realise that with a bit of care you could easily change one of the digits on the card (which is handwritten, not printed) to give you an extra year of cover. During that year, you will qualify as a solicitor and money won't be such a worry, so you can stop using the "doctored" card then.

What is the ethical position in relation to changing the date on the railcard?

How would a virtue ethicist analyse and answer this problem?	How would a utilitarian analyse and answer this problem?	Relevant conduct rules/principles?	The likely decision, taking both moral methods and relevant rules into account