Supreme Court Committee Provides Guidance on Disqualifications

Supreme Court Committee Provides Guidance on Disqualifications Triggered by Judicial Campaign Contributions

 The California Supreme Court Committee on Judicial Ethics which is an  independent committee appointed by the Supreme Court to help inform the judiciary and the public concerning judicial ethics topics, has provided guidance that prohibits trial court judges from hearing cases where one of the lawyers in the case contributed more than $1,500 to the judge’s campaign.

 

 The Supreme Court committee concluded in that disqualification is mandatory for contributions over $1,500 from individual lawyers, but judges must also consider whether aggregated contributions from a group of lawyers or a law firm might cause a reasonable person to doubt the judge’s impartiality and require disqualification.  The opinion is the first advisory opinion in the country to address aggregated and law firm contributions. 

 http://elevylaw.com/supreme-court-committee/#more-347