Committee on Judicial Ethics — Part-Time Judge/Lawyer: Opinion 10-82

NYS Advisory Committee on Judicial Ethics

Part-Time Judge/Lawyer

Client Dealings

Opinion 10-82

Background: A part-time judge, who is also a lawyer, inquires as to whether it would be permissible to have a brief conversation with a friend or a client who calls the judge during an arrest when the judge knows that the case will be filed in his court. The part-time judge would advise the friend/client that he should another attorney.

Opinion: A part-time lawyer judge may have a brief conversation with a friend and/or client who calls the judge during an arrest and suggest that the friend/client contact another attorney when the judge knows that he cannot represent the friend/client because the resulting case would likely be filed in the judge’s court. The committee found that this conduct is permissible as the case is not yet pending in any court and that advising a caller to contact an attorney does not constitute the practice of law.