May circuit court judges ask lawyers to volunteer for child-custody pro bono cases by direct contact, bar ad, or bar meeting?
Apply this to your situation
This page answers the general question as of 1996. Ask about yours and see what the current rules of professional conduct in your state say for your facts, with citations.
Plain-English summary
Circuit court judges asked whether they could recruit lawyers to handle one pro bono child-custody case per year. Proposed methods included personal contact, a local bar newspaper advertisement, and an appeal at a bar meeting.
The Committee concluded that asking for volunteer representation of indigent custody litigants was different from fundraising for a civic or charitable organization. It saw no comparable concern that accepting lawyers would earn favors or declining lawyers would face retribution. It also relied on then-cited Canon 4A for speaking to bar groups.
The opinion approved personal requests, local bar advertisements, and bar-meeting appeals for the described service.
In practice
The opinion permits the specified methods of recruiting pro bono lawyers for indigent child-custody cases.
Common questions
Q: May a judge personally ask an attorney to volunteer?
A: Yes. The Committee approved direct solicitation for this service.
Q: May judges place a bar-newspaper ad?
A: Yes. The opinion expressly permits that method.
Q: May judges ask a bar group at a meeting?
A: Yes. The Committee cited Canon 4A for that activity.
Background and rules framework
The opinion applies the then-cited Maryland Code of Judicial Conduct, Canons 4A and 4C(2), distinguishing pro bono recruitment from charitable fundraising.
Citations and references
- Maryland Code of Judicial Conduct, Canons 4A and 4C(2).
See also
Source
- Landing page: Maryland Judicial Ethics Committee opinion index
- Original PDF: Opinion 1996-20
Original opinion text
Reproduced from the official source for research purposes. The linked source is authoritative.
Maryland Judicial Ethics Committee
Opinion Request Number: 1996-20
Date of Issue: October 22, 1996
O Published Opinion G Unpublished Opinion G Unpublished Letter of Advice
Solicitation of Attorneys for Pro Bono Work
When you recently inquired whether it is unethical for Judges of [a] Circuit Court ... to solicit attorneys to provide pro bono assistance to indigent parties in child custody cases, we responded ...
. After extensive discussion, the Judicial Ethics Committee has decided to withdraw [that response] and respond in this fashion to your inquiry. Hence, we will again respond seriatim to your inquiries:
1. Is it unethical for the judges of the Circuit Court as a group to solicit individual attorneys to agree to handle one pro bono case per year? In this regard, may a Judge personally contact an attorney and ask him or her to volunteer for such pro bono activity?
We do not believe that it is. While Canon 4C(2) of the Maryland Code of Judicial Conduct provides, in pertinent part, that
[a] judge should not solicit funds for any [civic or charitable] organization, or use or permit the use of the prestige of the judge’s office for that purpose. . . , the solicitation of volunteer pro bono assistance to indigent parties in child custody cases does not constitute “solicit[ation of] funds for [a civic or charitable] organization or use . . . the prestige of the judge’s office for that purpose. . . .” Such services are of value only to “indigent parties in child custody cases,” and the uninterrupted functioning of the circuit courts ... . Consequently, the solicitation of such pro bono services is far different from “the dangers inherent in a judge’s participation in civic and charitable fund raising.” For example, we see no danger of an attorney volunteering for such pro bono work being viewed as later entitled to a favor from the judges. Moreover, we believe it illogical for an attorney declining such pro bono work to fear retribution from the judges.
2. May a Judge of the Circuit Court solicit volunteers by writing personally to an attorney and asking for such assistance?
We believe our response to your first question is dispositive of your second question.
3. May the Judges of the Circuit Court place an ad in the local bar newspaper soliciting volunteers for this service without contacting individual attorneys?
We believe the Judges of the Circuit Court ... may place ads in the local bar newspaper, soliciting volunteers for pro bono assistance in such cases.
4. May the Judges of the Circuit Court appear at group meetings of the Bar and solicit the group to volunteer for such service?
Canon 4A provides that:
[a] judge may speak . . . on both legal and non-legal subjects. A judge may participate in other activities concerning the law, the legal system and the administration of justice.
Accordingly, we are of the opinion that judges may appear at group meetings of the Bar and Maryland Judicial Ethics Committee
Opinion Request Number: 1996-20
Date of Issue: October 22, 1996
O Published Opinion G Unpublished Opinion G Unpublished Letter of Advice Page 2 of 2
“solicit the group to volunteer for such service.”
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