Bell Nunnally Partner Brent A. Turman is quoted in the Washington Post article “Who is actually the worst character on ‘Succession’?” The piece considers the most morally compromised characters from the recently concluded HBO series Succession.
Turman, who teaches a course called “Ethics Lessons from HBO’s Succession” to bar associations and law firms around the country chose Waystar Royco’s (the fictional media conglomerate depicted) general counsel Gerri Kellman. “Gerri was the backbone of the institution. She has a pretty good idea of where the bodies are buried,” says Turman.
The story’s reporter writes, “As general counsel, Gerri is probably well aware that she owes certain ethical duties to Waystar Royco, Turman points out. It’s an American Bar Association rule, for example, that when an attorney represents an organization, the attorney’s decisions must be made in the organization’s best interest, not that of its executives or founders. Still, Gerri manages to tip the scales in her own favor anyway.”
Turman also offers, “[Gerri] determines which outcome in a business situation would benefit her personally, then reverse-engineers an argument to support her desired outcome….She ensures that she’s able to ‘wet her beak,’ as Logan would say. She knows better, but she chooses to reduce herself to the level of the Roys.”
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