Child Of The Judge

A new opinion from the Florida Judicial Ethics Advisory Committee

ISSUES

Whether potential ethical violations are raised for a judge when a law firm publicly acknowledges, promotes, or markets the fact that an attorney with the law firm is the child of a specifically named judge.

ANSWER: Yes. The judge must adamantly and genuinely encourage the law firm not to publicly acknowledge, promote, or market the attorney’s relationship with the judge.

Reasoning

…publicly announcing and marketing the relationship between the Inquiring Judge and child lends the prestige of judicial office to advance the private interests of the law firm to which the Inquiring Judge’s child is a member. The public may be inclined to use this particular law firm because of the specific advertisement of this familial relationship between the judge and attorney child. Furthermore, it gives the public the impression that because the Inquiring Judge’s child is an attorney in the firm, that law firm has a special relationship with the Inquiring Judge or the Inquiring Judge’s colleagues. Utilizing the judge’s office in this fashion runs afoul of Canon 2B. See also Fla. JEAC Ops. 13-23 (judge ethically prohibited from posing for church photograph for “God and Country Day” to be published in newspaper if the photograph is to be utilized in the solicitation of members or donations); 10-35 (sitting judge may not permit mediation firm that judge will be joining to send out announcement that sitting judge will be joining the firm upon retirement); 03-03 (judge’s participation in a law firm’s litigation program by presiding over mock trials at a law firm’s training retreat gives other firms and public the perception that judge has a special relationship with that particular law firm).

The JEAC recognizes that the law firm may reject the Judge’s request not to promote or advertise the Judge’s parent-child relationship with the attorney in the law firm. As we have instructed other judges in other JEAC opinions in which a third party is involved, the Inquiring Judge is advised to adamantly and genuinely encourage the law firm not to promote this relationship. See Fla. JEAC Ops. 12-06 (judicial candidate must encourage spouse not to campaign at a political party function wearing the judicial candidate’s campaign badge); 11-10 (judge instructed not to permit judge’s home to be used for a campaign gathering on behalf of a political candidate who is not a member of the household and judge must adamantly and genuinely encourage the spouse to host the event elsewhere). The Inquiring Judge is not ethically responsible for the actions of the law firm or any third party once the Inquiring Judge has apprised the third party not to take this action.

(Mike Frisch)