88-6.

CourtKansas
Kansas Ethics Opinion 1988. 88-6. 1988KBA Legal Ethics Opinion No. 88-6You have asked for an ethical opinion concerning the following questions as they relate to your proposed contract with the Kansas Attorney General to defend judges who have been sued in their official capacity: 1. Does your representation of these judges present a conflict of interest which would prohibit you from appearing before them in pending or subsequent actions? 2. Does your representation give rise to an obligation on your part to advise opposing counsel of your prior or ongoing representation of the judge handling the case? 3. If there is an obligation to advise opposing counsel, is there a time limit or period after which it is no longer necessary to advise counsel of your representation? While you, as a practicing attorney, are not bound by the code of Judicial Conduct, the judge, of course, is. It appears that the judge would be bound by the following: A judge must recuse himself or herself from adjudicating cases in which a litigant is represented by the judge's own attorney, whether the lawyer is representing the judge in a personal matter or in a matter pertaining to the judge's official position or conduct, subject to the rule of necessity (ABA Informal Opinion 1477 (concerning Canon 3 of the Code of Judicial Conduct). Informal opinions 594, 1260, 1306, 1331, and 1372 are in accord. In Texaco v. Chandler, 354 F.2d 655 (10th Cir. 1965), the trial judge was disqualified because a litigant's counsel had recently represented the judge in defense of an unrelated civil damages action against the judge in the course of his judicial activity. Although the disqualification was pursuant to a federal statute, the facts of the opinion concerned the "manifest ends of justice." While your representation of the judge does not create a conflict of interest or appearance of impropriety under either the Code of Professional Responsibility or the Model Rules of Professional Conduct in and of itself (vis-à-vis your client) your obligation to...

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