THERE are now two types of lawyers: those who have already been instructed by Volkswagen to defend legal actions heading their way and those who have yet to be instructed… Heads are rolling at the German car giant. The jury’s out on how quickly and how far the contagion will spread and whether other car manufacturers will also be found out cheating the system.

The disease that so contaminated banking has spread. Last week saw a report calling for an end to self-regulation and tighter controls of fundraisers as well as further allegations of corruption at FIFA.

The thread that links all these stories isn’t hard to tease out. It runs through our society.

We know what the rules are. They are there to ensure safety and fair play. But riches lie in store for those who can find a way round those rules.

Cars are tested to measure their exhaust gas emissions to ensure these fall within legal limits and to help purchasers make an informed choice about which car to buy. But finding a way round the rules – in this case making sure that when the engine was tested it adjusted itself to perform significantly better than when it was actually driven – showed the cars as more environmentally friendly than they were.

More cars sold, a cheap bit of chip technology rather than an expensive engineered solution. Bigger profits. Cleaner reputation.

The engineers seem to have forgotten what the tests were for. They were there to ensure new cars caused less pollution; that fewer people with breathing problems would die as a result of poor air quality, that the planet would still be intact for our children’s children.

Volkswagen engineers, FIFA officials and some charity agencies seem to have forgotten that they are part of a wider society. That the rules governing their small, specialised world, are set in the context of a much larger world that we all inhabit.

Emission rules aren’t just there to get federal or EU approval but to protect public health. Libor rates weren’t set so that traders could make more profit by guessing where they would go, but to set a level playing field for rates of currency exchange. Charities are not in the business of raising as much money as possible, but setting out the need before public and inviting them to lend support.

The trouble is the system offers huge financial rewards to those who bend the rules for gain rather than those who apply them for public good. It takes a brave person to stand up and challenge their boss, particularly if they or their boss stand to make money with little chance of getting caught.

Now, which industry or area of public life do you think will be next…