Judges may appear at bar events even when sponsored by law firms, ethics panel says

Maryland judges are not only permitted but encouraged to attend local bar association events even if sponsored — and their meals provided — by law firms that appear regularly appear before the jurists, the state’s Judicial Ethics Committee stated Monday in a reported opinion.

Judges, however, should be wary of attending bar events if a major sponsor is a person or entity involved in “significant litigation,” before them or their court, the committee stated.

Judges “must avoid any situation that would create a perception of impropriety in a reasonable person,” the ethics panel wrote. “The typical sponsors of bar association events are unlikely to present any such concern. The committee specifically does not see any particular concern with law firm sponsors as long as sponsorship opportunities are open to multiple firms.”

The panel issued its opinion in response to an unnamed circuit court judge’s question regarding the ethics of attending a local bar association’s annual “dinner with the judges” sponsored by law firms whose names would appear in the event’s advertisements and program.

Judges “may participate in activities sponsored by organizations or governmental entities concerned with the law, the legal system or the administration of justice,” the committee stated.

The participation may include “appearing or speaking at, receiving an award or other recognition at, being featured on the programs of, and permitting his or her title to be used in connection with” the event. The judge may also assist in the association’s fundraising plans but may not personally solicit donations from anyone other than family members and fellow judges over whom he or she has no supervisory or appellate authority, the committee added.

“Interaction between the judiciary and the bar associations is to be encouraged and this is the obvious reason such invitations … traditionally have been extended for many years,” the ethics panel wrote. “Such participation fosters connections in the legal community and avoids judges becoming isolated.”

To that end, judges may accept a fully complimentary admission to law firm-sponsored bar events.

“The benefit conferred by the private sponsors is likely to be distributed among all attendees in the form of reduced ticket prices, but even if judges receive a special discount, receipt of a complimentary tick to a bar association event is permitted,” the committee wrote. “There is no indication that the sponsors are likely to include unusual businesses or individuals who are likely to be parties in matters before the courts in that jurisdiction.”

The committee, however, warned judges to be cautious when they are guests not of the bar association but of a specific law firm or attorney.

Judges must not let their appearance become “part of a judicial ‘show and tell,’ ” for the purpose of displaying “a close relationship” with the attorney or firm, the panel wrote.

Judges may accept a private invitation “only if there is no reason to suspect that the attorney will attempt to use the judges’ presence for any inappropriate purpose,” the committee added. “If, after arriving, the judge finds that he (or she) is being placed in a compromising or uncomfortable position, he (or she) should leave.”

Maryland Appellate Court Judge Kathryn Grill Graeff chairs the 15-member ethics committee, which consists of seven sitting judges, four former judges, a circuit court clerk, a judicial appointee and two people who are neither lawyers nor employed by the Maryland Judiciary.