It doesn't take much to get sucked into a downward spiral, whether the reasons be personal, professional, or a combo. The result is more than just newspaper and online stories, it's the lasting reputational risk plus the bar disciplinary system breathing down an attorney's neck.
Sometimes the embezzled funds can be repaid, sometimes the attorney shows sufficient remorse that the license is not lifted forever, but the reputation never improves. And Girardi's situation (I won't use the word 'plight' because he's responsible for this massive fraud) is hopefully the exception and not the rule for lawyers, the vast majority of whom do their best to serve their clients. But the stain on the profession is not easily removed.
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