Committee On Judicial Ethic

September 26, 2023 | New York Law Journal

A village justice who is a lawyer may represent the village mayor in providing legal advice and negotiations in the dissolution of the mayor's marriage.

By Committee on Judicial Ethics

3 minute read

September 25, 2023 | New York Law Journal

Where a judge has been sued in the judge's former official capacity as a nonjudicial public official: (1) If the judge is being represented by the county attorney's office: (a) During the representation, the judge is disqualified, subject to remittal, from matters involving the specific county attorney who is undertaking the representation. (b) After the representation concludes, the judge may preside in matters involving that attorney, provided the judge can be fair and impartial. Disclosure of the former attorney/client relationship is discretionary. (c) Both during and after the representation, the judge has no obligation to disclose or recuse with respect to other county attorneys who have no involvement in representing the judge.

By Committee on Judicial Ethics

8 minute read

September 24, 2023 | New York Law Journal

When a town justice learns that the court clerk and the clerk's children served as paid witnesses for a local attorney's clients on a limited number of occasions, and have since stopped at the advice of the judge, must the judge take any further action with respect to the court clerk's conduct?

By Committee on Judicial Ethics

2 minute read

September 21, 2023 | New York Law Journal

Where a part-time attorney judge unknowingly arraigned a defendant who was a complaining witness against one of the judge's clients in an unrelated case, but then, on discovering the conflict, immediately transferred the matter to the co-judge and notified all parties, the judge need not take any further action.

By Committee on Judicial Ethics

4 minute read

September 20, 2023 | New York Law Journal

A full-time judge who participated in writing a screenplay before assuming judicial office (1) may be credited by name as a writer in the ensuing fictional film, notwithstanding that the judge's contributions were based on the judge's prior unsuccessful efforts to seek judicial office and other experiences but (2) may not participate in a question and answer session following the screening of the film, even in an academic setting.

By Committee on Judicial Ethics

5 minute read

September 19, 2023 | New York Law Journal

(1) A judge must report an attorney who, on learning that a non-party would only honor a judicial subpoena, personally signed a subpoena above the judge's name and served it on the non-party. However, reporting may wait until the conclusion of the case.

By Committee on Judicial Ethics

8 minute read

September 18, 2023 | New York Law Journal

May a full-time judge, who has independently written and published a bench book, sell copies of that book to the supervising judge of another court in the Unified Court System for distribution to judges in that court?

By Committee on Judicial Ethics

2 minute read

September 17, 2023 | New York Law Journal

(1) Once a judge's first-degree non-lawyer relative, a college student, accepts an internship with a private law firm, the judge must disclose the relationship when the law firm appears before the judge and determine whether the relative has or had any involvement with the case. If the relative is or was involved in the case, the judge is disqualified, subject to remittal if the judge's relative will remain permanently absent from the courtroom. Otherwise, if the relative had no involvement, the judge may preside after disclosure, provided the judge can be fair and impartial.

By Committee on Judicial Ethics

7 minute read

September 14, 2023 | New York Law Journal

A judge may purchase a sponsor-level ticket to a bar association's fund-raising dinner and be publicly listed as a "sponsor" of the event.

By Committee on Judicial Ethics

2 minute read

September 13, 2023 | New York Law Journal

On the facts presented, a judge may not participate in a public demonstration against gun violence.

By Committee on Judicial Ethics

12 minute read