Committee On Judicial Ethics

August 03, 2022 | New York Law Journal

A village justice may consent to the village's proposed requirement that the village court clerk punch in on a time clock, as other village employees do.

By Committee on Judicial Ethics

6 minute read

August 02, 2022 | New York Law Journal

A judge may co-chair a committee to educate the judiciary on implicit bias through a volunteer court observation project, and may meet as a group with other participating judges and committee members to receive feedback from the volunteer observers, but may not meet privately with volunteer observers to discuss their feedback on the judge's own court sessions.

By Committee on Judicial Ethics

7 minute read

July 31, 2022 | New York Law Journal

A full-time judge may hire a fifth-degree relative as their secretary.

By Committee on Judicial Ethics

3 minute read

July 28, 2022 | New York Law Journal

May a judicial association "make a financial donation to a nonprofit organization that local courts often include as a required condition of pretrial or post-conviction decisions," in the name of a former member who worked closely with the organization on retiring from the judiciary? May a judge personally, as an individual, make charitable contributions to this same nonprofit organization?

By Committee on Judicial Ethics

3 minute read

July 27, 2022 | New York Law Journal

A full-time judge (1) may serve on the board of a not-for-profit organization that seeks to empower people with disabilities to live as independently as possible and works with criminal justice organizations to improve public safety and the delivery of justice but (2) may not serve on the legislative taskforce of a not-for-profit organization that seeks to develop independent living spaces for individuals with disabilities.

By Committee on Judicial Ethics

6 minute read

July 26, 2022 | New York Law Journal

Although a full-time judge may serve on the board of trustees of a not-for-profit private school, the judge (1) may not serve on the board's audit/risk committee, (2) may not solicit a legal opinion from an attorney on behalf of the board, and (3) may not negotiate a discounted fee with an attorney or law firm for legal services to the school.

By Committee on Judicial Ethics

5 minute read

July 25, 2022 | New York Law Journal

Where court staff have relayed to a judge certain remarks made openly by a physician witness while waiting for the case to be called, and the judge concludes those remarks reflect gender and other bias and a lack of professionalism to a level that could directly impact the doctor's credibility and/or might be relevant in evaluating the conclusions reached in the physician's report, the judge (a) may, but need not, report the remarks to an appropriate authority, and (b) must disclose the remarks to all parties so that they may be heard on the matter.

By Committee on Judicial Ethics

7 minute read

July 24, 2022 | New York Law Journal

Provided the judge is satisfied they can be fair and impartial, the judge may preside in a case where the plaintiff is an attorney who frequently appears before the judge and was previously co-counsel with the judge's sibling on several discrete cases.

By Committee on Judicial Ethics

6 minute read

July 21, 2022 | New York Law Journal

A town justice may consent to hiring a part-time court clerk who would, if hired, continue their current employment as a senior account clerk, in a strictly clerical capacity, in the payroll department for the county sheriff's office. However, the judge must instruct the court clerk to advise the judge if the clerk's non-judicial employment duties change materially.

By Committee on Judicial Ethics

6 minute read

July 20, 2022 | New York Law Journal

On the facts presented, a part-time judge may not serve on the board of a reentry services organization that engages in advocacy and takes positions on controversial issues.

By Committee on Judicial Ethics

7 minute read