Opinion 25-145

November 6, 2025

Digest:  (1) A judicial association may hold its installation ceremony on the premises of a for-profit alternative dispute resolution provider if it pays reasonable value for the space.  (2) The association may accept an unsolicited offer from a bank or law firm to use its conference space at no charge provided that the donor and its interests have not come, and are unlikely to come, before the inquiring judge or members of the association.

Rules:   22 NYCRR 100.2; 100.2(A); 100.2(C); 100.4(C)(3)(b)(i); 100.4(D)(5); 100.4(D)(5)(a)-(h); Opinions 21-150; 17-80; 15-87; 05-47; 99-09; 94-07.

Opinion:

          The inquiring judge, as an officer of a judicial association, asks if the association’s installation ceremony for new officers may be held on the premises of a for-profit organization that provides alternative dispute resolution for litigants or at a conference space at a local bank or law firm.  The association would need to pay to use the alternative dispute resolution provider’s premises, but the bank and law firm are willing to lend their conference space to the association at no charge.  At either location, the association would pay its own catering expenses.

          A judge must always avoid even the appearance of impropriety and act in a manner that promotes public confidence in the judiciary’s integrity and impartiality (see 22 NYCRR 100.2; 100.2[A]).  A judge may neither lend the prestige of judicial office to advance any private interests (see 22 NYCRR 100.2[C]) nor personally solicit funds (see 22 NYCRR 100.4[C][3][b][i]).  In addition, a judge must not accept a “gift, bequest, favor or loan” except as permitted by the Rules Governing Judicial Conduct (see 22 NYCRR 100.4[D][5]).  Where a proposed gift or favor does not fall into one of the specifically enumerated permissible categories (see 22 NYCRR 100.4[D][5][a]-[g]), the judge may accept “only if” the catch-all exception applies (see 22 NYCRR 100.4[D][5][h]).

          We see no appearance of impropriety in the judicial association’s proposal to rent space from a for-profit alternative dispute resolution provider in order to hold its installation ceremony.  After all, we have previously advised that a judicial association may hold its annual conference at a hotel resort and casino (see Opinion 15-87).  In our view, this kind of routine, arms-length business transaction cannot reasonably be perceived as lending the prestige of judicial affiliation to advance the commercial entity’s private interests.  Accordingly, we conclude a judicial association may hold its installation ceremony on the premises of a for-profit alternative dispute resolution provider if it pays reasonable value for the space. 

          By contrast, the question of accepting free space from a bank or law firm requires some additional analysis.  Initially, we have recognized that a “waiver of a fee for the services rendered does constitute a gift or favor” (Opinions 21-150; 05-47).  Neither the inquiring judge nor the association may solicit contributions for a meeting, as it would be tantamount to requesting a gift or fund-raising that violates the Rules (see Opinions 17-80, fn 1 [noting that a judge’s association is held to the same standards as a judge, including the ban on soliciting charitable contributions]; 94-07 [noting that an association of judges “could not do collectively what its members could not do individually”]; 99-09 [a judge may not seek sponsorship or underwriting from law firms or other commercial entities for an upcoming convention of judges, as that solicitation “falls within the category of fund-raising”]).

Even if the gift is unsolicited, judges may not accept a gift or favor unless an exception applies.  Where none of the more specific exceptions apply, the catch-all exception permits acceptance “only if: the donor is not a party or other person who has come or is likely to come or whose interests have come or are likely to come before the judge” (22 NYCRR 100.4[D][5][h]).  Here, we conclude the association may accept an unsolicited offer of free space for the installation ceremony from either the bank or the law firm, but only if the donor entity and its interests have not come, and are not likely to come before the inquiring judge or any members of the association (see e.g. Opinion 17-80 [concluding that a judicial association may accept a gift of food from a local restaurant for a public event, where this standard is met]).