A judge resigned; She supervised activity in cases before another judge while he was on vacation. Will the judge be disciplined if she tries this case on behalf of the plaintiff?

• A. No, because she will try the case before a judge with respect to the merits.
• B. Yes, because she is practicing law after resignation.
• C. Yes, because supervising duties were improper.
• D. No, because she has no disciplinary authority in that context.

Answer: (A)

When a judge leaves the bench, she may return to private practice and may advocate before courts, as long as she avoids conflicts or appearances of impropriety. In this situation, if she tries the case on behalf of the plaintiff, she would be acting as counsel in front of another judge who will decide the merits, not acting as a judge herself. That means there’s no inherent disciplinary problem from her representing the client in that proceeding. The earlier act of supervising activity while the other judge was on vacation could raise questions about propriety, but it does not by itself create a disciplinary bar on her later appearance as counsel before a different judge. The focus would be on standard ethical rules for counsel (competence, conflicts, disclosure), not on disciplining her simply for taking on the case as an attorney.