Lance Armstrong (Photo credit: Richard Masoner / Cyclelicious)

This week, Lance Armstrong confessed to Oprah Winfrey that he, in fact, took performance enhancing drugs during his professional cycling career, despite his previous denials.  Speaking to the Today Show’s Savannah Guthrie on Tuesday morning, legal analyst Lisa Bloom spoke about the possible legal implications for Lance Armstrong, both criminal and civil:

• Criminal charges for perjury
• Criminal charges for the doping itself if the statute of limitations has not run
• Federal whistleblower lawsuit brought by Floyd Landis whom Lance Armstrong and his people called a liar
• Defamation charges
• Charges for defrauding sponsors like the U.S. Postal Service
• Recovery action by British newspaper Armstrong sued for calling him a doper ($500,000 judgment, attorney fees and interest)
• Recovery actions by his corporate sponsors based on his contracts that likely had morals clauses and clauses banning the use of illegal drugs that provided for sponsor dollars to be returned

While Lisa Bloom stated that she’s “sure that all of his attorneys were against [his confession],” Savannah Guthrie opened the segment by stating that:

Lance Armstrong has a team of lawyers, according to the Wall Street Journal not all of them were in agreement about him stepping forward and confessing as NBC has reported.

Whether all of Lance Armstrong’s lawyers advised him against confessing or not . . . Lisa Bloom’s bottom line?

This could keep lawyers in business for many, many years.

So what is the take away for legal consumers?  Think critically about your lawyer’s advice.  Does it make sense to you?  What are the possible outcomes if you heed that advice, and are any of those outcomes in your lawyer’s financial interest?

While many lawyers can resist their own financial interest when advising their clients, not all can.  A smart legal consumer recognizes this possible conflict of interest and keeps it in mind when weighing legal advice.

You’ve got options.  The Center for Legal Practice Reform can help you navigate the attorney/client relationship and level the playing field.  Call LPR today for a free consultation – (301) 351-7970.

Related articles

• Lance Armstrong’s $5 Million Offer Rejected By Government: REPORT (huffingtonpost.com)
• Oprah: Lance Armstrong ‘forthcoming’ about drug use (usnews.nbcnews.com)
• Experts: Armstrong confession could cost millions (usnews.nbcnews.com)