During the preparation for an upcoming panel discussion on matrimonial law, we came to realize the importance of judicial education not so much the part of it that includes judges taking CLE courses, but the aspect that involves judges participating in educational forums with members of the bar, to offer their perspective on the law and the decision-making process.
Teaching is one of the few activities that judges are permitted to engage in outside the normal daily tasks involved with being a judge (22 NYCRR §100.4), and it is one of the few avenues outside the courtroom that judges can devote to activities that benefit the legal community at large. Volunteering to participate in a CLE program can be a means by which we fulfill our broader obligations as judges, improving our profession by helping to educate lawyers, law students and other interested members of the community.
