Sign in to follow

New York Law Journal

Judicial Ethics Opinion 24-110

A new full-time judge may engage in activities designed to wind down his/her prior professional corporation and collect previously earned legal fees. The judge may represent him/herself in negotiating a fee splitting or quantum meruit agreement with a successor law firm regarding legal fees earned prior to assuming the bench, although the fee agreement must be permissible under the Rules of Professional Conduct. Where the professional corporation's bank account remains open to pay expenses in winding down the practice, a check for the judge's share of legal fees may be made payable to the professional corporation.
4 minute read

New York Law Journal

Judicial Ethics Opinion 24-109

An appellate judge, who is also an adjunct law professor, may write letters of recommendation based on personal knowledge for current or former law students seeking judicial clerkships in other courts. The letter should be addressed directly to the hiring judge, unless that judge presides in a lower court subject to the appellate judge’s jurisdiction. If the judge uses judicial stationery, he/she must clearly mark it “Personal and Unofficial.”
6 minute read

New York Law Journal

Judicial Ethics Opinions 24-107 and 24-108

Opinion 24-107: Where a part-time town justice is also a court attorney/law clerk in city court: (1) the judge may conduct arraignments in the centralized arraignment part on cases originating in the city court, but must be insulated from those cases as a court attorney/law clerk, and the insulation and the basis for it must be disclosed on the record to all parties and their counsel; Opinion 24-108: Committee on Judicial Ethics cannot comment on an inquiry while there is a pending investigation by the Commission on Judicial Conduct.
6 minute read

New York Law Journal

Judicial Ethics Opinion 24-106

A part-time judge who owns an investment advisory firm and is not in his/her window period for election may neither permit the firm to sponsor a golf tournament to benefit the election campaign of a candidate for public office nor participate personally in such an event.
3 minute read

New York Law Journal

Judicial Ethics Opinion 24-105

A part-time justice may accept employment as an assistant public defender in another county and appear in family court, but must not preside in any matter where another attorney from the same public defender’s office appears.
5 minute read

New York Law Journal

Judicial Ethics Opinion 24-104

A judge may participate in the activities of not-for-profit veterans’ organizations, provided the judge does not personally solicit funds or permit his/her judicial status to be used for fund-raising purposes. A judge may donate to these organizations and may also identify veterans who can benefit from the services they offer.
3 minute read

New York Law Journal

Judicial Ethics Opinion 24-103

A quasi-judicial official may not accept an offer to stay at the vacation home of an attorney who regularly appears before him/her.
4 minute read

New York Law Journal

Judicial Ethics Opinion 24-102

A full-time judge whose docket consists mostly of claims against the State of New York and medical malpractice cases asks if the judge may serve on the board of directors of a not-for-profit organization that provides services to high-risk individuals and families with behavioral health challenges. The organization is not engaged in proceedings that would normally come before the judge’s court, nor regularly engaged in adversarial proceedings in any court, and the inquirer believes that no court appointments are made to the organization or its programs.
2 minute read

New York Law Journal

Judicial Ethics Opinion 24-101

A judge may attend the NAACP’s national convention as a member of the organization but (a) may not engage in any partisan political activity, (b) may not serve as a delegate or voting member or otherwise assume any leadership role, and (c) must not associate him/herself with organizational positions on matters of public controversy.
4 minute read

New York Law Journal

Judicial Ethics Opinion 24-100

A town justice who is a notary public may notarize documents as part of his/her duties as appointed village treasurer, provided he/she does so strictly as a notary public without reference to his/her judicial title or status.
3 minute read

More from ALM

More from ALM

Legal Speak is a weekly podcast that makes sense of what’s happening in the legal industry.

Resources

  • AI-Powered Deposition and Medical Record Summaries: Low Risk, High Reward

    Brought to you by Parrot

    Download Now

  • Aligning Client Needs with Lawyer Growth and Profitability

    Brought to you by BigHand

    Download Now

  • Technology to Make E-Discovery Smarter, Not Harder

    Brought to you by Nuix

    Download Now

  • Does Generative AI Have the Power to Transform Legal Services?

    Brought to you by HaystackID

    Download Now