Auto Accident Law 101
Do Free Dinners Fall Under The Bribery Heading?
Everett Cook
People attempting to make business deals may take extra steps to make sure that you go in their direction. One of these methods includes buying you and your employees free dinners. Do these dinners fall under the heading of bribery? How do you defend yourself if they do?
Bribery Can Be Hard To Understand
A gift is only a considered a bribe if you receive it with the understanding that the person giving it to you will also benefit. For example, if a potential business partner buys you and your whole corporation a massive free dinner in an attempt to get more money from you, they may be guilty of providing you with a bribe. And if you take the gift and use it to alter your decision, you have accepted one.
It might seem surprising that such a small gift could fall under the heading of a bribe. However, anti-bribery attempts are taking very seriously by commercial law experts. They believe that bribes compromise the integrity of the workplace. These laws are also put into place to avoid undue influence by people or corporations that possess a lot of money.
If you have accepted free dinners without realizing it was an attempt at a bribe, you may be in a weird legal situation. For example, if the dinner did influence your decision, you may be considered liable for accepting a bribe. However, if it did not influence your decision, you may not be in any trouble. If a lawsuit or criminal actions are brought against you, it is possible to use this fact to your legal advantage in what can be a hard situation.
Defenses Can Be Tough
If you are accused of accepting bribes because someone offered you excessive free dinners, you are stuck in a tough legal situation. That's due to the fact that bribery is often a hard crime to defend against. One of the easiest ways to defend yourself is to claim that you were entrapped by the person making the claims. For example, you can claim they gave you free dinners regardless of your desire for them.
Another way of defending against this claim is to state that you were coerced into accepting a bribe. For example, your superiors may have forced you to accept free dinners and to change your decisions because of the dinners. You basically have to show that you had no choice but to accept the bribe in order to defend yourself against it.
Talk to a commercial litigation lawyer if you are being accused of bribery. They can help you understand your rights and protect you against excessive lawsuits. Even better, they may be able to clear your good name and avoid serious legal repercussions.
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After being involved in a serious auto accident with a drunk driver, I struggled heavily with getting the driver's insurance company to open a claim. When the insurance company started pushing back, I knew I needed to do something. I spent a lot of time digging through the laws surrounding auto accident claims so that I knew what my legal rights were. I even talked with an auto accident attorney. I created this site to teach others about what I learned, including my court experience. I hope it helps you to determine how you should proceed with your auto accident case.