Rehabilitating Your Reputation After Conviction of a White Collar Crime
If you or someone you know has been convicted of a white collar crime, like insider trading, fraud, tax fraud, or embezzlement, you know what an impact this can have on your reputation professionally and personally.
Ultimately, it means more than having a criminal record. And fair or not, in the eyes of many, you’ve lost credibility. You may have trouble finding employment, earning professional certifications or licenses, or even ingratiating yourself in social circles in your community.
While your ability to rehabilitate your reputation depends on the seriousness of the offense you’re responsible for, in many cases, reputational rehabilitation is possible.
It won’t happen overnight. You probably won’t win everyone over, but if your personal and professional reputation matter to you, then it’s worth the effort.
He’s how we recommend rehabilitating your reputation after you’ve been convicted of a white collar crime.
How To Take Responsibility and Rehabilitate Your Image
How can you show people that you’ve learned from the past? By moving forward responsibly.
What that means in practice is, where legally advisable, acknowledging your mistake and being honest about the seriousness of the offense. Don’t minimize or point fingers. Hold yourself accountable.
Similarly, it’s essential that your current and future conduct is one of demonstrable change. You’re in a place where your ethics are being questioned. Answer those questions with consistently lawful conduct.
Do you have court-ordered obligations? Fulfill them. If you’re on probation, don’t do things that will violate it. If you have fines, pay them and pay them on time. Do anything and everything you can to showcase that you’re a changed person.
Your defense attorney can advise you about how to properly go about accomplishing this in a way that will contribute to your rehabilitated reputation while protecting yourself legally.
How Your Criminal Defense Attorney Can Help You Rehabilitate Your Reputation
You might think that time heals all wounds, but that’s not always the case, especially when it comes to your reputation after a criminal conviction.
This is where the guidance and expertise of a criminal defense attorney can be of great benefit.
A defense attorney might be able to offer you reputational relief in the form of things like clemency or expungement, and possibly even a pardon. While there are never guarantees that you can be granted any of these forms of relief, there are legal avenues that your attorney can explore, depending on the seriousness of your prior conviction.
Assuming that you can’t remove your conviction from your record, your attorney can still explore other ways in which you can protect your reputation, including the research of disclosure obligations. Not all employers require the same level of disclosure, and understanding these nuances can help you protect your professional reputation.
Another important thing that your defense attorney can do to protect and rehabilitate your reputation is using legal channels to address and clarify factual inaccuracies about you.
We live in an age of information, much of it inaccurate due to rumor, conjecture, and misinformation.
With the aid of your criminal defense attorney, tackle the following in order to rehabilitate your reputation:
- Review your online presence and take stock of where public opinion lies
- Create a consistent narrative that speaks to your accountability journey
- Correct incorrect information about you without coming off as defensive
- Request the removal of inaccurate or false information about you to be taken down
- Leverage owned media like social media or a personal website to publish content that outlines this new chapter in your life
- Reestablish appropriate professional references where legal advisable
- Be consistent, punctual, and reliable in all personal and professional interactions
- Get involved in community activities and charities that are meaningful to you and align with your abilities
Contact the Law Offices of Robert J. DeGroot
In order to rehabilitate your reputation, it’s important to be honest, but it’s equally important to be honest in a way that protects your reputation as much as it restores it.
We can help you build a rehabilitation plan that appropriately addresses your legal issues, builds evidence of your development, and works to reestablish your standing in the community personally and professionally, while working to continue to build your credibility over time.
If you’d like to learn more about how you can rebuild your life and rehabilitate your reputation after a white collar conviction, contact the Law Offices of Robert. J. DeGroot today for your free initial consultation.
