Accounting, Partnership or Company

Gabriel Dunz is a partner in a large law firm with 35 partners. A major

international client of the law firm is Solomon Insurance Ltd, a public

company listed on the ASX. Unbeknown to the other partners, Gabriel

has been paying commission to Trent, a director of Solomon Insurance,

for extra work that Gabriel does for the insurance giant.

Over drinks one day, Trent tells Gabriel that Solomon Insurance is about

to go into receivership, and that Gabriel had better send a ‘work in

progress’ invoice for conveyancing work the partnership has been doing

for Solomon Insurance. Trent also asks Gabriel if the partnership would

be interested in preparing the insolvency documents. The law firm

jumped at the chance.

Gabriel tells his accountant the predicament that Solomon Insurance is

in, and she immediately forwards an invoice to the insurance giant for the

conveyancing work.

Meanwhile, Trent shreds hundreds of source documents that have come

his way from both Solomon Insurance and the partnership. The day after

the partnership gets paid for the conveyancing work, share trading on

Solomon Insurance is suspended indefinitely by the ASX.

Required

a. What are the three main ethical issues arising from this case?

b. Who are the stakeholders in this case and who owes whom a duty of

care?

c. How do you think the reputation of each entity would be affected if

the press got wind of the situation?

(a) Some of the main ethical issues include duty of care; professional reputation;

integrity; confidentiality; duty owed to all stakeholders (including public

interest)

(b) Stakeholders include Gabriel Dunz and her 34 other partners; directors,

employees, shareholders, clients of Solomon Insurance Ltd as well as

government agencies and the community at large. Gabriel specifically owes a

duty of care to her other partners while Brendan owes a duty of care to the

shareholders who elected him and the general clients of the Insurance giant.

(c) The reputation and...