Rule Text (verbatim from The Florida Bar)
(a) Representation of Private Client by Former Judge, Law
Clerk, or Other Third-Party Neutral. Except as stated in
subdivision (d), a lawyer shall not represent anyone in connection
with a matter in which the lawyer participated personally and
substantially as a judge or other adjudicative officer or law clerk to
such a person or as an arbitrator, mediator, or other third-party
neutral, unless all parties to the proceeding give informed consent,
confirmed in writing.
(b) Negotiation of Employment by Judge, Law Clerk, or
Other Third-Party Neutral. A lawyer shall not negotiate for
employment with any person who is involved as a party or as
attorney for a party in a matter in which the lawyer is participating
personally and substantially as a judge or other adjudicative officer
or as an arbitrator, mediator, or other third-party neutral. A lawyer
serving as a law clerk to a judge or other adjudicative officer may
negotiate for employment with a party or attorney involved in a
matter in which the clerk is participating personally and
substantially, but only after the lawyer has notified the judge or
other adjudicative officer.
(c) Imputed Disqualification of Law Firm. If a lawyer is
disqualified by subdivision (a), no lawyer in a firm with which that
lawyer is associated may knowingly undertake or continue
representation in the matter unless:
(1) the disqualified lawyer is timely screened from any
participation in the matter and is directly apportioned no part of the
fee therefrom; and
(2) written notice is promptly given to the parties and
any appropriate tribunal to enable it to ascertain compliance with
the provisions of this rule.
(d) Exemption for Arbitrator as Partisan. An arbitrator
selected as a partisan of a party in a multimember arbitration panel
is not prohibited from subsequently representing that party.
Educational reference. This page summarizes a Florida Rule of Professional Conduct for educational purposes. The rule text and Comment are mirrored from the Florida Bar's official publication and are public domain. The plain-English summary and any commentary are the opinion of Phillips, Hunt & Walker and are general information only — not legal advice. Reading this page does not create an attorney-client relationship. If you believe a Florida lawyer has violated this rule, you can file a complaint with The Florida Bar at floridabar.org. Past results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
What this rule means in plain English
A lawyer who served as a judge, arbitrator, mediator, or other third-party neutral cannot later represent anyone in connection with a matter the lawyer personally and substantially participated in as that neutral. The exception requires informed written consent from all parties. The rule covers former judges joining private practice and mediators who later want to represent one side of a previously mediated dispute — neither move is automatic, both require disclosure and consent.
Florida Bar Ethics Opinions interpreting this rule
- Opinion 76-24 (1976)
<p>A lawyer cannot perform legal services for the trustee in a Chapter X bankruptcy proceeding pending before the judge for whom the lawyer formerly clerked. The conflict between former-clerk knowledge and current adversarial advocacy in the same court is irreconcilable. The rule extends to similar former-judicial-staff to current-adversarial-counsel situations across Florida courts.</p>
Read on floridabar.org →
Comment (verbatim from The Florida Bar)
This rule generally parallels rule 4-1.11. The term “personally
and substantially” signifies that a judge who was a member of a
multimember court, and thereafter left judicial office to practice
law, is not prohibited from representing a client in a matter pending
in the court, but in which the former judge did not participate. So
also the fact that a former judge exercised administrative
responsibility in a court does not prevent the former judge from
acting as a lawyer in a matter where the judge had previously
exercised remote or incidental administrative responsibility that did
not affect the merits. Compare the comment to rule 4-1.11. The
term “adjudicative officer” includes such officials as judges pro
tempore, referees, special masters, hearing officers, and other
parajudicial officers and also lawyers who serve as part-time judges.
Compliance Canons A(2), B(2), and C of Florida’s Code of Judicial
Conduct provide that a part-time judge, judge pro tempore, or
retired judge recalled to active service may not “act as a lawyer in a
proceeding in which [the lawyer] has served as a judge or in any
other proceeding related thereto.” Although phrased differently
from this rule, those rules correspond in meaning.
Like former judges, lawyers who have served as arbitrators,
mediators, or other third-party neutrals may be asked to represent
a client in a matter in which the lawyer participated personally and
substantially. This rule forbids such representation unless all of
the parties to the proceedings give their informed consent,
confirmed in writing. See terminology. Other law or codes of ethics
governing third-party neutrals may impose more stringent
standards of personal or imputed disqualification. See rule 4-2.4.
Although lawyers who serve as third-party neutrals do not
have information concerning the parties that is protected under rule
4-1.6, they typically owe the parties an obligation of confidentiality
under law or codes of ethics governing third-party neutrals. Thus,
subdivision (c) provides that conflicts of the personally disqualified
lawyer will be imputed to other lawyers in a law firm unless the
conditions of this subdivision are met.
Requirements for screening procedures are stated in
terminology. Subdivision (c)(1) does not prohibit the screened
lawyer from receiving a salary or partnership share established by
prior independent agreement, but that lawyer may not receive
compensation directly related to the matter in which the lawyer is
disqualified.
Notice, including a description of the screened lawyer’s prior
representation and of the screening procedures employed, generally
should be given as soon as practicable after the need for screening
becomes apparent.
A Florida Bar member who is a certified or court-appointed
mediator is governed by the applicable law and rules relating to
certified and court-appointed mediators.
Amended July 23, 1992, effective Jan. 1, 1993 (605 So.2d 252); amended
March 23, 2006, effective May 22, 2006 (933 So.2d 417); amended July 7,
2011, effective October 1, 2011 (67 So.3d 1037).