By Committee on Judicial Ethics | September 11, 2023
A full-time judge may be the uncompensated guest speaker discussing aspects of the judge's life and career path related to diversity and inclusion at a for-profit company's employee-only event, where the company's interests are unlikely to come before the judge and the judge's name and image would not be used for commercial purposes.
By Committee on Judicial Ethics | September 10, 2023
Where the remaining tasks are essentially ministerial and do not involve legal work, a new full-time judge may complete their service as a referee in foreclosure, pursuant to a court appointment that was made before the judge assumed the bench. Thus, the judge may, if necessary, conduct closings after January 1st, hold the proceeds in escrow pending a court order directing their release, and seek a court order regarding disposition of unresolved monies remaining in an escrow account.
By Committee on Judicial Ethics | September 7, 2023
(1) A full-time judge may accept a $10,000 honorarium to serve as a mentor-in-residence at a SUNY/CUNY college, where (a) the duties of the mentor-in-residence over the course of a semester involve guest lecturing in selected courses, meeting with groups of students and faculty on assorted topics, and holding office hours for mentoring students and (b) the college offers the same standard honorarium to any such mentors-in-residence. (2) Whether these activities may take place during regularly scheduled court hours, with time charged to annual leave, are administrative questions to be determined by the appropriate Administrative Judge.
By Committee on Judicial Ethics | September 6, 2023
A judge who is seeking election or re-election to judicial office may, during the applicable window period, record and post short videos on their personal social media accounts for the purpose of connecting with the public to highlight the judge's qualifications for judicial office and provide educational content on alternate dispute resolution and mediation. At the end of the window period, the judge must remove the videos from all social media accounts.
By Committee on Judicial Ethics | September 4, 2023
(1) A judge whose law clerk was formerly an equity partner at a law firm must insulate the law clerk from all cases in which the law clerk had any involvement whatsoever as an attorney, and must disclose the insulation. (2) While the law clerk is receiving periodic "vesting payments" from their former law firm for fees generated during the partnership, the judge must make full disclosure in all matters where that law firm appears. After disclosure, the judge may preside if the judge can be fair and impartial, and need not insulate the law clerk solely on the basis of these vesting payments. The obligation to disclose the vesting payments terminates when the payments completely end.
By Committee on Judicial Ethics | August 31, 2023
(1) A judge need not recuse from a small claims case merely because they might potentially learn about another judge's possible legal, procedural and/or ethical missteps in another case. (2) The inquiring judge is in the best position to determine whether they have received information indicating a substantial likelihood that another judge has committed a substantial violation of the Rules Governing Judicial Conduct and, if so, what action is appropriate under the circumstances. (3) We cannot respond to questions about past conduct, legal issues, conduct of another judge, or interpretation of another judge's decisions/rulings.
By Committee on Judicial Ethics | August 30, 2023
May a judge make charitable donations to Vote.org, which describes itself as the "largest 501(c)(3) nonprofit, nonpartisan voting registration and get-out-the-vote (GOTV) technology platform in America, with the goal of reaching historically underserved voters of color and underrepresented young voters"?
By Committee on Judicial Ethics | August 29, 2023
A judicial candidate, if elected, may appoint their campaign treasurer as their principal law clerk, provided that (1) any remaining duties of the treasurer are strictly ministerial and the treasurer is no longer involved in political fund-raising or other prohibited political activity at the time of the appointment and (2) the appointment is based on merit.
By Committee on Judicial Ethics | August 28, 2023
A town justice who receives correspondence from their co-judge's election opponent with accusations against the co-judge, but has no first-hand knowledge of any misconduct, is not obligated to take any action.
By Committee on Judicial Ethics | July 26, 2023
Where a judge has made a statutorily required allocution concerning an unrepresented tenant's potential claims and defenses, and the tenant says they do not understand them, there is no ethical impropriety in offering the tenant a document prepared and posted by the Unified Court System for public information, entitled "Common Defenses in a Landlord-Tenant Case." However, the judge should not recommend any particular defense listed.
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