The Advisory Committee on Judicial Ethics responds to written inquiries from New York state’s approximately 3,600 judges and justices, as well as hundreds of judicial hearing officers, support magistrates, court attorney-referees, and judicial candidates (both judges and non-judges seeking election to judicial office). The committee interprets the Rules Governing Judicial Conduct (22 NYCRR Part 100) and, to the extent applicable, the Code of Judicial Conduct. The committee consists of 27 current and retired judges, and is co-chaired by the Honorable Margaret Walsh, a justice of the supreme court in Albany County, and the Honorable Lillian Wan, an associate justice of the appellate division, second department. 

Digest: (1) A new part-time judge who previously represented clients as a non- supervisory assistant public defender: (a) is permanently disqualified, without the possibility of remittal, in any case where the judge previously participated as an attorney and (b) is disqualified, subject to remittal, from all matters involving their former clients, for two years after the attorney-client relationship completely ends.  (2) Once the two-year period has elapsed, the judge may preside in matters involving these former clients, provided the judge had absolutely no involvement as an attorney in the specific case before the judge and assuming the judge can be fair and impartial.  (3) If the judge becomes aware that a case before the judge has substantial connections that are material and relevant to a case where the judge had previously served as an assistant public defender, the judge should fully disclose the connection between the two cases, as well as the nature and extent of the judge’s involvement in the prior proceeding, but may thereafter preside if the judge concludes they can be fair and impartial.

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