Ethics Forum: Questions and Answers on Professional Responsibility
I am a lawyer who is a district judge. What can I do in my law practice while I am a sitting Pennsylvania district judge?
February 25, 2021 at 10:58 AM
8 minute read
A hard look at Rule 3.10(a)(2) raises some questions as to what a district judge as a lawyer can do.
I am a lawyer who is a district judge. What can I do in my law practice while I am a sitting Pennsylvania district judge?
Samuel C. Stretton.
The answer is found in the Standards of Conduct of Magisterial District Judges under Rule 3.10. Common Pleas and appellate court judges are prohibited from other forms of employment such as practicing law, but a district judge has some limited rights to practice law. The problem is the rules were amended and now it is very difficult to know exactly what a district judge who is a lawyer can do. The general rule is Rule 3.10, which states the magisterial district judge "shall not engage, directly or indirectly, in any activity or act incompatible with the expeditious, proper, and impartial discharge of their duties, including but not limited to any of the following—; Any activity related to the collection of a claim or judgement for money."
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