Over the past 50 years, since the Watergate scandal, ethics-related scandals have led to a substantial overhaul of federal ethics laws, with the result that government employees are now subject to more stringent ethical regulatory restrictions than ever before.  At the same time, growing media scrutiny has made the reputational consequences to individuals and companies caught up in ethics scandals significant, even in cases in which no legal violation is ultimately established.

Recent events have challenged many of our assumptions about government ethics. These issues have been highlighted by current scandals in Washington.  Providing effective legal counsel to clients requires an appreciation of both the legal and non-legal dimensions of ethics-related representations