National Judgment Network
The National Judgment Network (I'm a proud and certified member) has a
Code Of Ethics that Mark D. Shapiro, JudgmentBuy.com and GoGuys, Inc. - agree to abide by:
1) All judgment recovery professionals assume an obligation of
self-discipline above and beyond the requirements of laws and regulations.
2) These Principles of the Code of Ethics express the profession's
recognition of its responsibilities to the public, to the legal system,
and to colleagues. They guide individuals in the performance of their
professional responsibilities and express the basic tenets of ethical and
professional conduct. The Principles call for an unswerving commitment to
honorable behavior, even at the sacrifice of personal advantage.
Article I: Responsibilities
In carrying out their responsibilities as professionals, individuals should
exercise sensitive professional and moral judgments in all their activities.
Judgment recovery professionals perform an essential role in society.
Consistent with that role, they have responsibilities to all those who
utilize their services. Professionals also have a continuing
responsibility to cooperate with each other to improve the business of
judgment recovery, maintain the public's confidence, and carry out the
profession's special responsibilities for self-governance. The collective
efforts of all professionals are required to maintain and enhance the
traditions of the profession.
Article II: The Public Interest
Judgment recovery professionals should accept the obligation
to perform in a way that will serve the public interest, honor the
public trust, and demonstrate commitment to professionalism.
1) A distinguishing mark of any profession is acceptance of its
responsibility to the public. The judgment recovery profession's public
consists of judgment creditors, judgment debtors, the court system, the
legal profession, and others who rely on the objectivity and integrity of
judgment recovery professionals. This reliance imposes a public interest
responsibility on judgment recovery professionals. The public interest is
defined as the collective well-being of the community of people and
institutions the profession serves.
2) In discharging their professional responsibilities, judgment recovery
professionals may encounter conflicting pressures from among each of those
groups. In resolving those conflicts, the judgment recovery professional
should act with integrity, guided by the precept that when individuals
fulfill their responsibility to the public, everyone's interests are best
served.
3) Those who rely on judgment recovery professionals expect them to
discharge their responsibilities with integrity, objectivity, due
professional care, and a genuine interest in serving the public -- all in
a manner that demonstrates a level of professionalism consistent with
these Principles of the Code of Ethics.
4) Judgment recovery professionals commit themselves to honor the public
trust. In return for the faith that the public reposes in them, judgment
recovery professionals should seek continually to demonstrate their
dedication to professional excellence.
Article III: Integrity
To maintain and broaden public confidence,
judgment recovery professionals should perform
all responsibilities with the highest sense of integrity.
1) Integrity is an element of character fundamental to professional
recognition. It is the quality from which the public trust derives and the
benchmark against which a judgment recovery professional must ultimately
test all decisions.
2) Integrity requires the individual to be, among other things, honest and
candid within the constraints of professional confidentiality. Service and
the public trust should not be subordinated to personal gain and
advantage. Integrity can accommodate the inadvertent error and the honest
difference of opinion; it cannot accommodate deceit or subordination of
principle.
3) Integrity is measured in terms of what is right and just. In the
absence of specific rules, standards, or guidance, or in the face of
conflicting opinions, the individual should test decisions and deeds by
asking: "Am I doing what a person of integrity would do? Have I retained
my integrity?" Integrity requires the individual to observe both the form
and the spirit of technical and ethical standards; circumvention of those
standards constitutes subordination of judgment.
4) Integrity also requires a judgment recovery professional to observe the
principles of objectivity and independence and of due care.
Article IV: Due Care
A judgment recovery professional should observe the
profession's technical and ethical standards, strive continually
to improve competence and the quality of services, and discharge
professional responsibility to the best of his or her ability.
1) The quest for excellence is the essence of due care. Due care requires
the judgment recovery professional to discharge professional
responsibilities with competence and diligence. It imposes the obligation
to perform professional services to the best of the individual's ability
with concern for the best interest of those for whom the services are
performed and consistent with the profession's responsibility to the
public.
2) Competence is derived from a synthesis of education and experience. It
begins with a mastery of the common body of knowledge required for
designation as a judgment recovery professional. The maintenance of
competence requires a commitment to learning and professional improvement
that must continue throughout the individual's professional life. It is a
judgment recovery professional's individual responsibility. In all
engagements and in all responsibilities, each individual should undertake
to achieve a level of competence that will assure that the quality of
their services meet the high level of professionalism required by these
Principles.
3) Competence represents the attainment and maintenance of a level of
understanding and knowledge that enables the judgment recovery
professional to render services with facility and acumen. It also
establishes the limitations of the individual's capabilities by dictating
that consultation or referral may be required when a professional
engagement exceeds the personal competence of the individual. Every
judgment recovery professional is responsible for assessing his or her own
competence - of evaluating whether education, experience, and judgment are
adequate for the responsibility to be assumed.
4) Judgment recovery professionals should be diligent in discharging
responsibilities to the public. Diligence imposes the responsibility to
render services promptly and carefully, to be thorough, and to observe
applicable technical and ethical standards.
5) Due care requires the individual to plan and supervise adequately any
professional activity for which he or she is responsible.
Article V: Scope and Nature of Services
A judgment recovery professional should observe
the Principles of the Code of Professional Ethics in
determining the scope and nature of services to be provided.
1) The public interest aspect of the judgment recovery professionals'
services requires that such services be consistent with acceptable
professional behavior. Integrity requires that service and the public
trust not be subordinated to personal gain and advantage. Objectivity and
independence require that the individual be free from conflicts of
interest in discharging professional responsibilities. Due care requires
that services be provided with competence and diligence.
2) Each of these Principles should be considered by the judgment recovery
professional in determining whether or not to provide specific services in
individual circumstances. No hard-and-fast rules can be developed to help
the individual reach these judgments, but the individual must be satisfied
that they are meeting the spirit of the Principles in this regard. In
order to accomplish this, judgment recovery professionals should assess,
in their individual judgments, whether an activity is consistent with
their role as professionals.
Article VI: Pledge
All judgment recovery professionals freely subscribe to
the following pledge without prejudice or reservation.
In the execution of my professional responsibilities, I will:
* Conduct my business in a professional and ethical manner.
* Comply with all city, county, state, and federal laws.
* Respond promptly to all correspondence from all parties involved in my
purchased judgments.
* Immediately return ownership of all judgments to the original judgment
creditor should I terminate my business.
* Stay abreast of changes within the industry.
* Maintain confidentiality with respect to agreements with the original
judgment creditor.
* Continue to educate myself with respect to the legal processes involved
in judgment recovery.
* Assist other judgment recovery professionals through the sharing of my
knowledge.
* Not use harassing tactics in the process of recovery of any judgment.
* Not render legal advice in any form or fashion, or give the appearance
of rendering legal advice.
* Not engage in unfair business practices in regard to the public or other
judgment recovery professionals.