Lawyer discusses ethics surrounding apologies in legal disputes
March 12, 2003
KALAMAZOO -- Is there a place for the words "I'm sorry" in a courtroom?
A local lawyer will be on campus March 20 to discuss how apology can be used as a means to restore trust and reconcile conflicts that might otherwise lead to lengthy courtroom battles.
Sharan Levine, shareholder in the Kalamazoo law firm Levine & Levine will present "The Ethics of Apology from the Perspective of a Lawyer," at 7 p.m., Thursday, March 20, in the Putney Lecture Hall, Room 1010, of the Fetzer Center. The lecture is sponsored by the Center for the Study of Ethics in Society and is free and open to the public.
"The notion of making an apology has upset a carefully balanced legal system which renders it tantamount to an admission of guilt," says Levine. "But lawyers are responding to a society that is encouraging apology among adversaries."
Levine represents and consults with ombudsmen in government, academia and corporations. She has served as chairperson of the Committee on Ombuds of the American Bar Association and served, by appointment of the Michigan Supreme Court, on the state bar of Michigan Board of Commissioners.
Media contact: Matt Gerard, 269 387-8400, matthew.gerard@wmich.edu