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A ban on consensual romantic relationships between judges and their employees, and continued investigation and public report of judges accused of sexual misconduct even if they retire or resign were among proposals offered yesterday during a hearing on the federal judiciary’s efforts to deal with workplace misconduct, the National Law Journal reported. During the daylong hearing, 10 members of the Judicial Conference committees on Codes of Conduct and Judicial Conduct and Disability heard suggestions on the committees’ proposed amendments to the codes and rules from federal judges, former law clerks, law students and legal ethics and federal court scholars, among others. Much of the testimony focused on providing alternative channels for reporting sexual misconduct instead of only to the chief judges of the district or circuit courts, and increased transparency in the investigation and resolution of complaints. Read more.

Don't miss the ABI Talk "#MeToo: Where I've Been, and Where Bankruptcy Professionals Are Going" by Cathy R. Herschcopf of Cooley LLP at the 2018 Winter Leadership Conference. Click here to register. 

The federal judiciary’s proposals to deal with sexual harassment and related misconduct within the federal court system will undergo public scrutiny during a daylong hearing today, the National Law Journal reported. Two committees of the Judicial Conference of the United States — Codes of Conduct and Judicial Conduct and Disability — will conduct the hearing on proposed amendments to the code and rules that respond to recommendations made in a June report by the Federal Judiciary Workplace Conduct Working Group. The Federal Judiciary Workplace working group was established at the direction of Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. last December. The impetus for the group was the widely publicized sexual harassment allegations against former Judge Alex Kozinski of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Kozinski resigned in December amid those allegations of harassment against female law clerks. Read more.

Click here to watch a livestream of today's hearing. 

Don't miss the ABI Talk "#MeToo: Where I've Been, and Where Bankruptcy Professionals Are Going" by Cathy R. Herschcopf of Cooley LLP at the 2018 Winter Leadership Conference. Click here to register.