Pontification

By Allison Hayward

Greetings, readers of the Legal Professions Blog!  I want to throw out an issue of special relevance to me today.  As some of you may know, the Supreme Court released a significant campaign finance decision, and as I happen to be familiar with that area, I’ve been approached about my opinion.  As it happens, I did not work (formally or informally) on the case.

But suppose I did?  How much involvement in one of these big controversial decisions is sufficient before a pundit should disclose his or her ties?  I’ve been friends with Jim Bopp (counsel for the winning side) for at least 10 years.  That’s clearly not enough – a disclosure of that would sound almost silly.  If he paid me to consult on the case, then I think as obviously I should tell people that – I’m part of the team and so people considering my views on the case should be able to take that into account.  There’s a range of situations in between where it is hard to say whether disclosure is important, harmless, or invasive.  (For example, having attended a meeting about the case with potential amici.)   

I’d like to know what people think – not so much how the rules work, but where the line should be.