A judge is permitted to teach a business law class at a local university provided the teaching schedule does not unreasonably interfere with judicial duties, according to an ethics opinion.
The Ethics Advisory Committee reviewed a request regarding a class scheduled four days a week for approximately seven weeks. The class was expected to last one hour and twenty minutes each day, primarily during lunch breaks.
The inquiry sought to determine if teaching during lunch hours would violate Canon 3A, which states that judicial duties of a full-time judge take precedence over other activities. While Canon 4B allows judges to teach or lecture on legal or non-legal topics, they must avoid extra-judicial commitments that detract from the time required for judicial duties.
In a previous ruling, Informal Opinion 90-1, the committee determined a judge could not teach a class from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. because the six hours per week required would interfere with judicial duties. In that instance, the afternoon timing was considered disruptive to a judge's calendar.
In contrast, the committee noted that a judge is entitled to take lunch and other breaks. Because the proposed business law class would be taught at the beginning or end of lunch breaks, the total time away from regular duties would amount to a little over one and a half hours per week.
The committee concluded that the additional 20 minutes per day does not constitute unreasonable interference. The amount of time away from regular judicial duties was found to be of insufficient magnitude to detract from the performance of judicial duties.
