Ellard Talks on Business-Related Fraud
at Ethics Lecture Series
On March 26, 2007, Dr. George Ellard,
a partner at the well-known Washington,
D.C., law firm of Baach, Robinson &
Lewis spoke to a full house on a topic
that has scorched at the fabric of
modern society business-related fraud.
This was part of the Smith Schools
Business Ethics Lecture Series to foster
the idea of integrity among students.
Ellard explains that there is so much
debate on the topic of business ethics
primarily because it requires a
distinction between right and wrong.
Unlike previous civilizations, which had
an inherent belief in the existence of
right and wrong, most college-age people
in modern America instead believe that
such moral judgments are relative and
more a matter of personal preference.
People who think otherwise are usually
considered religious zealots or ignorant
because they have no knowledge of past
historical events, says Ellard.
Using the widely publicized espionage
case of FBI official Robert Hansen,
Ellard successfully paints a vivid
picture of the difference between right
and wrong. Over a career that spanned 23
years, Hansen sold national security
secrets to the Soviets and Russians and
also divulged the identities of
top-ranking officials like Lieutenant
General Dimitri Polyakov who were
providing intelligence on these
countries to the USA. While Hansen was
motivated by sheer malice and financial
incentives, Polyakov was motivated by a
deep hatred of the Soviet system, which
ruled by fear and intimidation, says
Ellard.
This idea of right and wrong that
applies to people also has useful
application in the business world. The
state recognizes corporations as
artificial persons, says Ellard. They
can be held liable under the criminal
law for the acts of their employees,
even acts that were not unauthorized or
acts that employees were explicitly
instructed against. Ellard stresses the
fact that students of business during
their careers will face decisions
between right and wrong in their
professional lives.
It is these decisions that although
seemingly insignificant at that instance
could result in a domino effect that
could result in the destruction of an
entire corporation.
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George Ellard is a
partner with Baach, Robinson &
Lewis. He has had broad
experience as a federal
prosecutor, white-collar defense
counsel, and a civil litigator.
He specializes in conducting
internal investigations,
devising business controls, and
advising domestic and foreign
financial institutions and other
business entities about
compliance with U.S. criminal
law and regulations. Ellard
typically represents clients
before the U.S. Department of
Justice, the Securities and
Exchange Commission, and other
federal and state prosecutorial
and regulatory agencies.
In addition to a distinguished
career in private practice,
representing private parties in
the criminal process,
particularly in cases involving
alleged securities and
accounting fraud, Ellard has
extensive governmental
experience. He served as counsel
to the congressional inquiry
into the terrorist events of
Sept. 11, 2001 and was
responsible for drafting
classified and public reports
that recommended
transformational changes in the
structure of the intelligence
and law-enforcement communities.
He also served as chief of staff
to a presidential commission
that examined the
counterintelligence programs of
the FBI in the wake of the most
damaging espionage in U.S.
history, perpetrated by senior
bureau official, Robert Hanssen.
Ellard was also chief counsel to
a senior U.S. senator and
majority counsel to the Senate
Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime.
As senior counsel in an
investigation of a cabinet
agency, Ellard secured five
indictments centered on
corruption in public office. He
also conducted several sensitive
investigations on behalf of the
U.S. Department of Justice,
reporting to the Office of the
Attorney General.
Ellard received a J.D., as well
as a Ph.D. in philosophy, from
Yale University, where he was
articles editor of the Yale Law
Journal. He graduated with a
B.A. summa cum laude from
Fordham University and was for a
year a member of the
Philosophische Seminar at the
niversitt Tbingen in Germany. He
clerked for a senior judge on a
U.S. Court of Appeals and has
been an adjunct professor on the
law faculty of Georgetown
University and a professor of
philosophy.
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Fall 2007
Ethics Series Schedule
Fall 2006 Ethics Lecture Series
Spring 2006 Ethics Lecture Series
▓ Iffy Kaja, MBA Candidate 2008,
Smith Media Group
