(a) Except as stated in paragraph (c), 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, arbitrator, or law clerk to such a person, unless all parties to the proceeding consent after disclosure.

(b) A lawyer shall not negotiate for employment with any person who is involved as a party or as an attorney for a party in a matter in which the lawyer is participating personally and substantially as a judge or other adjudicative officer, or arbitrator. A lawyer serving as law clerk to a judge or arbitrator may negotiate for employment with a party or attorney involved in a matter in which the law clerk is participating personally and substantially, but only after the lawyer has notified the judge or arbitrator.

(c) An arbitrator selected as a partisan of a party in a multi-member arbitration panel is not prohibited from subsequently representing that party.

Comment to RPC 1.12

The Court has adopted the recommendation of the Debevoise Committee. That Committee had recommended deleting the paragraph in the Kutak Commission version that would permit use of a screening procedure for a lawyer disqualified under this rule. As to ethical constraints on the judiciary, see, e.g., Knight v. Margate, 86 N.J. 374, 386 et seq. (1981). As to the practice of law by retired judges, see N.J.S.A. 43:6A-13.

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