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We recently had to fire an employee for cause. After we sent an email to the former employee asking for a password to an account that belonged to the business, we received a reply from a person who represented themselves as the lawyer for the employee. The content of the email was:

Have your attorney contact me to discuss. I’ve instructed my client not to discuss this matter with you directly.

The sender of this email is a sitting county judge in my state (Texas). Google tells me that sitting judges are not ethically allowed to practice law here. Should I file a bar complaint?

feetwet
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Drew Shafer
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1 Answers1

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No, the Texas Code of Judicial Conduct permits County Judges to practice law except "in the court on which he or she serves or in any court subject to the appellate jurisdiction of the county court, or acting as a lawyer in a proceeding in which he or she has served as a judge or in any proceeding related thereto."

This is because County Judges in Texas are not judges in the classical sense. They are more like the CEO of a given County.

( cited above is Canon 6(B)(3))

David Reed
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