Lawyers' new ethical duties

Los Angeles Times: Lawyers don't take kindly to other people telling them how to do their jobs. But in the aftermath of Enron and WorldCom, corporate scandals in which attorneys coached companies on what they could get away with, change is in order. They should be required to report corporate wrongdoing that threatens to destroy shareholder wealth and strip employees of their hard-earned pensions.
Congress has ordered the Securities and Exchange Commission to create minimum standards of ethical conduct for attorneys on the payroll of publicly traded companies.
The American Bar Association, no doubt hoping to head off stricter rules, has voted to give corporate attorneys more freedom to alert top executives and board members about suspected fraud and other criminal acts.
That voluntary approach is not enough. The SEC should adopt a proposal that would require attorneys to resign if their top bosses and board members fail to correct significant breaches of securities law.
The SEC's requirement that lawyers quit as a last resort is what's known as a noisy exit. Everyone will notice, including regulators, even if the lawyer stays silent.