Dean, Robenalt discuss ethical clarity through Watergate case-study

August 24, 2012·Comments closed

“Joan told us that we had to say something religious during this talk, (since we’re speaking on) tapes uncovering wrongdoing and all that: Luke 12:3 ‘Therefore whatever you have said in the dark side shall be heard in the light, and what you whispered in private rooms shall be proclaimed on the housetops,” said James Robenalt, a partner at Thompson Hine LLP, during the 2 p.m. Interfaith Lecture.

On Thursday, in a continuation of the Week Nine Department of Religion theme, “The Ethics of Presidential Power,” Robenalt spoke with John W. Dean, former counsel to President Richard Nixon during the Watergate scandal, to present a lecture titled “The Ethics of Clarity: Waking Up From Wrongdoing.”

Interfaith Lecture Previews

Robenalt, Dean speak on ethical lapses behind Watergate scandal

August 22, 2012·Comments closed

People hate losing more than they love winning.

It is knowledge that might seem common to competitive types, but it now has a name — prospect theory — and a Nobel Prize to back it. The theory, which describes behavioral economics and found that people dislike losing more than they like winning explains why people lie, cheat, cover up and act irrationally when they are in trouble. See the Monica Lewinsky or Penn State scandals, said Thompson Hine LLP partner James Robenalt, who has studied prospect theory in legal ethics and who now works closely with John Dean — former White House counsel to President Richard Nixon who was called “master manipulator of the cover-up” by the FBI and later became a key prosecution witness.

Robenalt and Dean will discuss the Watergate scandal and ethical obligations of lawyers at 2 p.m. Thursday in the Hall of Philosophy. Their conversation is titled “The Ethics of Clarity: Waking Up From Wrongdoing” and is based on their national tour of lectures on the 40th anniversary of the Watergate break-in.