STATE OF WASHINGTON
ETHICS ADVISORY COMMITTEE
OPINION NO. 93-16


Question
     May a judicial officer serve on the board of directors of a  county
legal services non-profit corporation which coordinates the provision of
pro bono legal services for volunteer lawyer members to low income clients
in the county?

Answer
     CJC Canon 4(C) provides that judicial officers may serve as directors
of an organization devoted to the improvement of the law, the legal system
and the administration of justice if in doing so they do not cast doubt on
their capacity to decide impartially any issue that comes before them.  The
attorneys employed by the legal services corporation appear regularly in
the judicial officer's court.  Therefore, it would not be proper for the
judicial officer to serve on this board as it creates the appearance of
partiality.    This opinion is distinguishable from Opinion 93-2 because in
the facts of Opinion 93-2 the attorneys did not appear in the judicial
officer's court but rather practiced only in federal court.