COMMITTEE ON CODES OF CONDUCT
ADVISORY OPINION NO. 81
When Law Clerk's Future Employer Is the United States Attorney.
In Advisory Opinion No. 74, the Committee dealt with appropriate
procedures when a law clerk has been extended an offer of employment by
a lawyer or a law firm and the offer has been or may be accepted by the
law clerk. This opinion deals with appropriate procedures when a law clerk
has been offered employment by a particular United States attorney's office
and the offer has been or may be accepted by the law clerk. The United
States attorney's office is not a law firm and the law clerk would have
no financial interest in that office. See Advisory Opinion No. 38.
Nonetheless, participation by the law clerk in a pending case involving
the prospective employer may reasonably create an appearance of impropriety
and a cause for concern on the part of opposing counsel. See Canon
3F(1) of the Code of Conduct for Judicial Employees.
The judge should isolate the law clerk from cases in which that
particular United States attorney's office appears. See Advisory
Opinion No. 74.
To avoid a future appearance of impropriety or potential grounds
for questioning the impartiality of the court, a former law clerk should
be disqualified from work in the United States attorney's office on any
cases that were pending in the court during the law clerk's employment
with the court. A Rule of Court can be adopted for this purpose. See,
e.g., Sup. Ct. R. 7; D.C. Cir. R. 4; Federal Judicial Center, Chambers
Handbook for Judge's Law Clerks and Secretaries (1994). Advisory Opinion
No. 70 gives similar advice in the case of a former judge appearing in
such cases.
September 14, 1987
Revised January 16, 1998