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advance the private interest of others; nor should a law clerk convey or permit others to convey
the impression that they are in a special position to influence the law clerk.
C. Law clerks must avoid talking with attorneys about cases before the court. A law clerk must never
communicate to the attorneys on a pending case the law clerk’s opinion or attitude toward the
issues pending before the judge. Moreover, once the decision is announced or opinion issued,
the law clerk must avoid comment on it or disclosure of the extent of their involvement with it.
However, this rule does not prevent a law clerk from providing as a writing sample to prospective
employers copies of an opinion or order issued by the court in which the law clerk serves or had
served, provided the law clerk performed substantial drafting and researching work in connection
with the opinion or order, and provided further that the authoring judge gives their permission
for such use. This rule also does not prevent a law clerk from providing as a writing sample
to prospective employers memoranda of law addressing legal issues prepared for the judge
for whom the law clerk is employed, provided the judge gives their permission for such use. If
engaged in conversation by an attorney about a pending matter, the law clerk should strive to
terminate the conversation as quickly as politely possible. The law clerk should avoid even informal
contact with attorneys with respect to a matter pending before the Court.
A law clerk must not give advice to attorneys on matters of substantive or procedural law, and must
not do minor research tasks for attorneys.
Law clerks should be particularly careful to see that all attorneys are treated equally and not be
tempted to provide a special favor for a law school colleague or an old friend.
Canon 3. A law clerk should perform the duties of the office impartially and diligently.
The duties of a law clerk take precedence over all of the law clerk’s other activities. In the performance
of these duties, the following standards apply:
A. Adjudicative Responsibilities.
1) A law clerk should be faithful to the law and maintain professional competence in it. A law clerk
should not be swayed by partisan interests, public clamor, or fear of criticism.
2) A law clerk should be patient, dignified and courteous to litigants, jurors, witnesses, lawyers, and
others with whom the law clerk deals in the law clerk’s official capacity.
3) All persons who are legally interested in a proceeding, or their lawyers have, full right to be heard
according to law; but, except as authorized by law, a law clerk should neither initiate nor consider ex
parte or other communications with such persons concerning a pending or impending proceeding.
B. Administrative Responsibilities.
1) A law clerk should diligently discharge the law clerk’s administrative responsibilities and maintain
professional competence in judicial administration. Each law clerk must read and be familiar with
both the Rules of Professional Conduct and the Code of Judicial Conduct.
2) Two important duties owed by the law clerk to the judge are loyalty and confidentiality. The
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law clerk enjoys a unique relationship with a judge that combines the best of employer-employee,
teacher-student and lawyer-lawyer. While the law clerk must be aware of the proper respect due a
judge, the law clerk should not fear expressing a contrary opinion when personal opinions are asked.
The law clerk is always an assistant to the judge, who has the ultimate authority and responsibility in
deciding a case. Without sacrificing intellectual honesty, the law clerk must accept the decision of the
judge as if it were the law clerk’s own.
3) The law clerk owes the judge the duty of confidentiality concerning everything that occurs in the
process of decision-making and all statements or events that do not occur in open court or in open
conference with attorneys present. This duty extends beyond the term of clerkship; and, after leaving
the service of a court, the law clerk must use extreme caution in public or private comments about a
judge or the court so as not to cause a loss of confidence in the judicial process or system. The law
clerk should not reveal the process that the court employed in arriving at a particular decision or
court policy that is not readily apparent from the decision or policy itself.
C. Disqualification.
1) A law clerk should disclose the basis of any possible disqualification in a proceeding in which the
law clerk’s impartiality might reasonably be questioned to the judge the law clerk serves. If, based on
such disclosure, the judge agrees that the law clerk’s impartiality cannot reasonably be questioned,
the law clerk may participate in the case. Without limiting the obligation to these instances, the law
clerk should make this disclosure in any instance with respect to a proceeding where:
a. the law clerk has a personal bias or prejudice concerning a party, or personal knowledge of
disputed evidentiary facts concerning the proceeding;
b. the law clerk served as lawyer in the matter in controversy, or a lawyer with whom the law
clerk previously practiced law served during that association as a lawyer concerning the
matter, or the law clerk or that lawyer has been a material witness concerning it;
c. the law clerk knows that they, individually or as a fiduciary, or the law clerk’s spouse or
minor child residing in the law clerk’s household, has a financial interest in the subject
matter in controversy or in a party to the proceeding, or any other interest that could be
substantially affected by the outcome of the proceeding;
d. the law clerk or the law clerk’s spouse, or a person within the fourth degree of relationship
to either of them, or the spouse of such a person:
(1) is a party to the proceeding or an officer, director or trustee of a party;
(2) is acting as a lawyer in the proceeding;
(3) is known by the law clerk to have an interest that could be substantially affected by the
outcome of the proceeding;
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