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Thompson Hine LLP, a full-service business law firm with approximately 400 lawyers in 11 offices, was ranked number 1 in the category “Most innovative North American law firms: New working models” by The Financial Times and was 1 of 7 firms shortlisted for The American Lawyer’s inaugural Legal Services Innovation Award. The firm has been recognized by the National Law Journal as a Legal Technology Trailblazer and featured by Bloomberg for its innovative service delivery models, which drive accuracy and predictability. The firm’s commitment to innovation is embodied in Thompson Hine SmartPaTHTM – a smarter way to work – predictable, efficient and aligned with client goals. For more information, please visit ThompsonHine.com and ThompsonHine.com/SmartPaTH.

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<img style="max-width: 100%;height: auto;max-width: 100%;height: auto" loading="lazy" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-2410" src="https://www.thelawforlawyerstoday.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/754/2016/03/Baseball-tickets-196x300.jpg" alt="Baseball tickets" width="196" height="300">A Florida judge resigned last week in the wake of a state judicial&nbsp;ethics investigation launched after he accepted&nbsp;baseball tickets from a law firm that was actively litigating a slip-and-fall case before him.&nbsp; The judicial-ethics issue should be a&nbsp;no-brainer &mdash; but it is also a timely reminder for lawyers about some of the ethics rules governing their interactions with judges.
Overturned verdict
According to the <a href="https://efactssc-public.flcourts.org/casedocuments/2016/182/2016-182_notice_77834.pdf">Notice of Charges </a>filed by the state Judicial Qualifications Commission, the judge was presiding over a negligence case against Wal-Mart during the summer of 2015.&nbsp; After a four-day trial, the jury rendered a defense verdict.&nbsp; The next day, the judge instructed his judicial assistant to ask the law firm representing the plaintiff for tickets to that night&rsquo;s Tampa Bay Rays game against the Boston Red Sox.&nbsp; The law firm obliged with tickets for five excellent seats.
Six days later, the law firm filed a motion to set aside the jury verdict and for a new trial on the plaintiff&rsquo;s behalf.
Four days after the hearing on the motion,&nbsp;the judge asked the firm for more tickets to a game against the Twins, which the firm again provided.&nbsp; The next day, the judge overturned the jury&rsquo;s verdict and granted a new trial to the firm&rsquo;s client, the plaintiff, holding that no reasonable jury could have found that Wal-Mart was not at least partly liable for the injuries to the firm&rsquo;s client.
&ldquo;Fess up...&rdquo;
The Chief Administrative Judge of the judge&rsquo;s circuit learned about the tickets and the timing of their receipt, and told him that the conduct was &ldquo;inappropriate&rdquo; and must be disclosed to the parties and to the Judicial Qualifications Commission.&nbsp; The judge&rsquo;s disclosure to the parties only stated that &ldquo;I previously received Tampa Bay Rays baseball tickets&rdquo; from the firm, without mentioning the damning timing of the requests.
The Commission, after its investigation, wrote that the judge&rsquo;s &ldquo;extraordinary action allowed the Plaintiff a second opportunity to seek damages from Wal-Mart,&rdquo; although he had never before overturned a jury verdict during his tenure as judge.&nbsp; The Commission noted two other instances where the judge accepted tickets to major league sporting events from other lawyers or law firms that appeared before him.
Resignation...
In his <a href="https://efactssc-public.flcourts.org/casedocuments/2016/182/2016-182_response_45706.pdf">answer </a>to the Commission&rsquo;s charges of impropriety, the judge apologized.&nbsp; He&nbsp;cited his relatively short time on the bench, and said he didn&rsquo;t realize what he did &ldquo;would adversely reflect on the judiciary and the administration of justice.&rdquo;&nbsp; He said that he had no&nbsp;improper intent and thought that he had to disclose his receipt of sports&nbsp;tickets only on his annual disclosure forms.&nbsp; He denied that his conduct reflected unfitness to serve on the bench.
Fast forward:&nbsp; The judge resigned his position as of March 7 (ahead of a disciplinary hearing scheduled for June), and the Commission voluntarily <a href="https://efactssc-public.flcourts.org/casedocuments/2016/182/2016-182_motion_110213.pdf">dismissed </a>its charges against him.
What about the lawyers?
It&rsquo;s possible that Florida&rsquo;s disciplinary gears are already engaged against the lawyers involved in this sorry tale, although I don&rsquo;t know that for a fact.
But <a href="http://www.americanbar.org/groups/professional_responsibility/publications/model_rules_of_professional_conduct/rule_3_5_impartiality_decorum_of_the_tribunal.html">Model Rule 3.5(a)</a> bars lawyers from seeking to influence judges by means prohibited by law.&nbsp; And <a href="http://www.americanbar.org/groups/professional_responsibility/publications/model_rules_of_professional_conduct/rule_8_4_misconduct.html">Model Rule 8.4(f)</a> prohibits knowingly assisting a judge in conduct that is a violation of applicable rules of judicial conduct or other law.&nbsp; The <a href="https://www.floridabar.org/TFB/TFBResources.nsf/Attachments/0A266C6138C4A15685256B29004BD617/%24FILE/RRTFB%20CHAPTER%204.pdf">Florida Rules of Professional Conduct </a>incorporate substantially similar or identical&nbsp;provisions, and likewise advise lawyers to be aware of the state&rsquo;s Code of Judicial Conduct and to &ldquo;avoid contributing to a violation of such provisions.&rdquo;
What&rsquo;s the moral of this story as to lawyers?&nbsp; Reserve those great sports tickets for your clients, and steer clear of anything that could put your license in jeopardy.

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Ethics

Legal Ethics, Professional Responsibility and the Business of Law

Ticket to hell:  Fla. judge resigns after taking Rays tix from law firm with pending case