State Bar Establishes Judges Hotline

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State Bar Establishes Judges Hotline

11/18/03

A new telephone hotline offering ethics counsel to the state's approximately 600 judges has been put into operation by the State Bar of Michigan. By calling (517) 346-6334 members of the judiciary can get confidential ethics advice and information five days a week from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The new connection should help to ease the large volume of calls that the Bar receives every day on the Ethics Hotline. According to Thomas Byerley, the Bar's Regulation Counsel and Director of Professional Standards, an average of 30 to 40 calls are received daily and over 8,000 yearly. By having a separate hotline for judges, those calls may be prioritized so that ethics guidance can be offered more quickly.

"The judges hotline will facilitate a more efficient system overall," said John T. Berry, executive director of the State Bar of Michigan. "It should eliminate back-ups so that our members can get timely answers to their urgent ethics questions and concerns."

More information on the code of conduct that governs Michigan's judges can be found on the Bar's website at www.michbar.org.

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