Category: Massachusetts Judicial & Clerks’ Ethics Opinions

Accepting award and money in recognition of community serviceMarch 31, 2010CJE Opinion No. 2010-3      You are a justice of the Trial Court who has requested an opinion from the Committee as to whether you may receive a monetary award through an awards program recognizing service to the community.  You also ask, if you cannot accept […]

Serving As Advisor to Bar Association Education Conference, Moderating Bench Bar Panel, Attending Bench Bar Reception, and Conference BallJanuary 13, 2011CJE Opinion No. 2011-1You have received an invitation from a bar association to participate in a conference. Specifically, the bar association has asked you to serve as advisor to the conference, to moderate a bench […]

Speaking to the Local Chamber of CommerceAugust 15, 2011CJE Opinion No. 2011-2You have asked whether you may speak at a local Chamber of Commerce event on issues that relate to the administration of justice and the budgetary crisis in the courts, presuming that the event has no other sponsors and the local Chamber is not […]

Hearing Cases Where Current Tenant and Former Law Partner is MediatorNovember 3, 2011You have requested an opinion from the Committee as to whether you may hear cases in which an attorney has served as a mediator where that attorney is your former law partner and your current commercial tenant (“Attorney”).(1) I.  BackgroundThe Attorney is a trained […]

Research Study of Immigrant Women Subject to Domestic AbuseNovember 4, 2011CJE Opinion No. 2011-4     You have “developed an English language questionnaire which tests for different types of behavior commonly associated with domestic violence (40 criteria) and also seeks to capture demographic data.”  You will continue to conduct this research study on your own time, using […]

Hearing cases and disclosing when spouse is CPCS Appeals Unit staff attorneyDecember 8, 2011CJE Opinion No. 2011-5     You are a Justice-Designate to the Appeals Court.  Your spouse is a staff attorney in the Appeals Unit of the Committee for Public Counsel Services (“CPCS”).  You have stated that as a result, you will recuse yourself not […]

Facebook: using social networking web siteDecember 28, 2011CJE Opinion No. 2011-6You are a judge-designate who requests guidance from the Committee as you make the transition from private practice to a judgeship with the Trial Court.  Specifically, you ask the Committee to define the parameters of Code-appropriate judicial use of Facebook,(1) a social networking web site. […]

Meeting with Executive Director of Alternative Community Corrections ProgramNovember 21, 2012CJE Opinion No. 2012-1     You have requested an opinion from the Committee as to whether a first justice or a chief justice may meet with the Executive Director of Roca, a non-profit organization, “to discuss the development and implementation of alternative community corrections pilot projects […]

Duty to report attorney identified as “robosigner” to Board of Bar OverseersSeptember 18, 2012CJE Opinion No. 2012-2You seek advice as to whether you have a duty to report an attorney to the Board of Bar Overseers.  This issues arises from a civil action regarding foreclosure. One issue in the case was whether the lender had […]

Hearing cases from former law firm in two-judge division of the Trial CourtSeptember 28, 2012CJE Opinion No. 2012-3You are an associate justice in a busy, two-judge, circuit-riding division of the Trial Court, and you have requested an opinion from the Committee as to whether attorneys from your former law firm (“Firm”) may appear before you. […]

Accepting pro bono representationMarch 26, 2013CJE Opinion No. 2013-1You are an associate justice of the Trial Court, and you have requested an opinion from the Committee as to the propriety of an attorney representing you before the Commission on Judicial Conduct (“CJC”) on a pro bono basis.  You frame the question as follows: “[I]s [the […]

Receiving an award at a bar association event where sponsors have substantial business before the courtsFebruary 12, 2014CJE Opinion No. 2014-1You have asked the Committee on Judicial Ethics for its opinion on the propriety of your acceptance of an award for judicial excellence at a bar organization event.  In the past, the event has been […]

Attending and Presenting at a Regional Educational Drug Court ConferenceMay 15, 2014CJE Opinion No. 2014-2You are a chief justice of a Department of the Trial Court who has requested an opinion from the Committee as to whether you and the judges in your department may attend and present at a regional educational drug conference held […]

Serving on Board of Trust Whose Mission is to Distribute Funds for the Benefit of Persons in the Community Where the Judge SitsJuly 18, 2014CJE Opinion No. 2014-3You are a first justice of the Trial Court who has requested an opinion from the Committee regarding your involvement with a trust that directs the disbursement of […]

Serving on Statutory Commissions December 10, 2014 CJE Opinion No. 2014-4 The Legislature recently promulgated three acts creating commissions that focus on specific areas of concern and that include particular judges, or their designees, among the members.You are one of those judges, and you ask whether the Code permits you to serve on these three […]

Separation of Judiciary From Fund-Raising Events March 9, 1989 CJE Opinion No. 89-3 You have requested the advice of this committee concerning the application of the Code of Judicial Conduct (SJC Rule 3:09) to a fund-raising event proposed for the benefit of a Massachusetts college of which you are a graduate. The event is being […]