TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Kate Prince on Aug 22, 2022

The Judicial Ethics Committee last week released an advisory opinion addressing two issues. First, the committee concurred with a prior opinion which stated a judge should not have to recuse themselves in a contested matter when one or both of the litigants is a licensed attorney. The committee only issued a new opinion on the matter because the numbering of the Rules within the Code of Judicial Conduct has changed since the prior opinion was issued. Secondly, aside from narrow and specific circumstances in the Rules of Judicial Conduct, the committee found that the code does not require a judge to recuse themselves simply because an attorney is a member of the judge’s former law firm. Read the full opinion from the Administrative Office of the Courts.