California Supreme Court: Judges should not attend law firm parties. Someone let Judge Rupert Byrdsong know.

Primary Authority Cited

California Supreme Court Committee on Judicial Ethics, Formal Opinion 2023-024 (August 29, 2023)

Central Holdings:

• Judicial officers may not accept invitations from for-profit law firms to attend anniversary celebrations at the firm’s offices with complimentary food and beverages
• The answer to the inquiry question is definitively “No”

Key Reasoning (Page 6): The Committee concluded that attending such events may suggest a judicial officer has a special relationship or close association with the law firm, potentially causing observers to question the judge’s impartiality in cases involving that firm or suspect the firm has special influence over judicial decisions.

The supporting California Supreme Court formal opinion is below for reference.

The pictures are of Judge Rupert Byrdsong at parties of private firms.

So, this post has a picture from this year’s attendance of Judge Rupert Byrdsong attending a private firm party on Facebook, as he attends many private firm party on a regular basis.