Advisory Committee on Judicial Ethics – Opinion 15-43

NYS Advisory Committee on Judicial Ethics

Law Clerk

Prior Employment – Non-Supervisory Role

Opinion 15-43

Background: The inquiring judge recently hired a law clerk who had been employed in a non-supervisory role in a government law office whose attorneys, including the law clerk, regularly appeared in the judge’s court.

Opinion: The committee concluded that a judge whose law clerk was personally involved in a case while employed by a government law office must insulate the law clerk from that case and disclose the insulation. The insulation may not be waived or remitted under these circumstances. However, the judge may continue to preside in the case, provided he can be fair and impartial. No disclosure is required as the law clerk did not have a supervisory role.