Opinion 22-156

October 27, 2022

Digest:     (1) A full-time judge may accept a $10,000 honorarium to serve as a mentor-in-residence at a SUNY/CUNY college, where (a) the duties of the mentor-in-residence over the course of a semester involve guest lecturing in selected courses, meeting with groups of students and faculty on assorted topics, and holding office hours for mentoring students and (b) the college offers the same standard honorarium to any such mentors-in-residence.
(2) Whether these activities may take place during regularly scheduled court hours, with time charged to annual leave, are administrative questions to be determined by the appropriate Administrative Judge.

Rules:       22 NYCRR 100.2; 100.2(A); 100.3(A); 100.4(A)(1)-(3); 100.4(B); 100.4(H)(1); 100.4(H)(1)(a); 100.4(H)(1)(c)(2); Opinions 10-46; 05-06; 92-05.

Opinion:

A full-time judge, who is also a writer by avocation, asks if the judge may accept a $10,000 honorarium from a college within the State or City University of New York (SUNY/CUNY) system to serve as a Mentor-in-Residence during an upcoming semester. The Mentor-in-Residence position requires 40 hours of service over a four-month period; the judge expects to take “less than two full afternoons a month of annual leave” to cover the balance of the commitment. The same honorarium is offered to all such Mentors-in-Residence. The position’s duties include: working with a Faculty Coordinator to create a schedule; participating in a kick-off event with the dean, faculty, and students; guest lecturing in selected courses; meetings with small groups of students and faculty based on topics determined by the Mentor and the Faculty Coordinator; and maintaining office hours for mentoring meetings with individual students.

 A judge must always avoid even the appearance of impropriety (see 22 NYCRR 100.2) and must always act to promote public confidence in the judiciary’s integrity and impartiality (see 22 NYCRR 100.2[A]). While a judge may speak, write, lecture, teach and otherwise engage in permissible extra-judicial activities (see 22 NYCRR 100.4[B]), the judge’s judicial duties must “take precedence” (22 NYCRR 100.3[A]). Accordingly, a judge’s extra-judicial activities must not be incompatible with judicial office, and must not (1) cast reasonable doubt in the judge’s capacity to act impartially as a judge; (2) detract from the dignity of judicial office; or (3) interfere with proper performance of judicial duties (see 22 NYCRR 100.4[A][1]-[3]). Subject to certain limitations, a full-time judge may receive reasonable compensation for permissible extra-judicial activities (see 22 NYCRR 100.4[H][1]). For example, the compensation must not exceed what a person who is not a judge would receive for the same activity (see 22 NYCRR 100.4[H][1][a]). Moreover, a full-time judge must not solicit or receive compensation for extra-judicial activities performed for or on behalf of a school, college or university that is “financially supported primarily by New York State or any of its political subdivisions” (such as colleges within the SUNY/CUNY system), except that a judge may receive “the ordinary compensation for a lecture or for teaching a regular course of study at any college or university” if the teaching does not conflict with proper performance of judicial duties (22 NYCRR 100.4[H][1][c][2]).

 In Opinion 10-46, we advised that a full-time judge may accept an invitation to be “a Fellow in residence at an undergraduate dormitory of [the judge’s] alma mater” and accept an honorarium for doing so. Although not expressly stated in the opinion, the judge’s alma mater in Opinion 10-46 was a private educational institution, rather than a state-supported one, so we had no occasion to consider Section 100.4(H)(1)(c)(2).

 As the position here is at a state-supported college, the novel question is whether the $10,000 honorarium for the Mentor-in-Residence position constitutes “ordinary compensation for a lecture or for teaching a regular course of study” (22 NYCRR 100.4[H][1][c][2]).

 Here, the duties of a Mentor-in-Residence include presenting guest lectures in selected courses, as well as certain additional activities normally associated with teaching a “regular course of study” over the course of a semester, such as office hours for mentoring meetings with students and meeting with groups of students and faculty on assorted topics over a four-month period. Moreover, the compensation offered to the judge is “ordinary” in that it is the same as for other Mentors-in-Residence (cf. Opinion 92-05 [suggesting that, “[i]f the children of all adjunct faculty members are entitled to partial tuition reimbursement,” this would be part of the “ordinary compensation and benefits” for the position]).¹

 Accordingly, we conclude this judge may accept the proposed honorarium to serve as a mentor-in-residence at a state-supported college, as (a) the duties of the mentor-in-residence over the course of a semester involve guest lecturing in selected courses, meeting with groups of students and faculty on assorted topics, and holding office hours for mentoring students and (b) the college offers the same standard honorarium to any such mentors-in-residence.

 However, the judge must remain mindful that judicial duties take precedence over the judge’s other activities, including participation in this program (see 22 NYCRR 100.3[A]). Whether these activities may take place during regularly scheduled court hours, with time charged to annual leave, and whether the proposed schedule might adversely affect the judge’s judicial responsibilities, are administrative questions to be determined by the appropriate Administrative Judge (see Opinion 05-06).

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¹ The law school in question in Opinion 92-05 was a private institution, and thus not subject to the then-operative predecessor to Section 100.4(H)(1)(c)(2).