Baker: Council membership shouldn’t be client bait
Gov. Charlie Baker said members of the Governor’s Council who send judges to the bench should not leverage that insider credential to advertise for legal clients.
“In my perfect world, yeah, I would much rather have them not advertise that because it does create an appearance issue,” Baker told the Herald.
The Herald yesterday reported six of the eight members of the Governor’s Council were practicing lawyers and since 2008 have not been barred by state law from appearing before a judge they voted to approve. Two members of the Governor’s Council — Robert Jubinville and Christopher Iannella — noted the public service on their professional websites.
Councilors vote to confirm judges and are paid $36,000 a year for the part-time work. Only two of the eight members are non- lawyers: Eileen Duff and Marilyn Petitto Devaney.
Baker said he’s not heard issue with lawyers appearing before judges they’ve approved and un- derstands judges typically recuse themselves from cases if there is a conflict.
The governor said the council- ors should hold themselves to a higher standard and not advertise the fact they have voted to put judges on the bench.
“They are private citizens first of all. They have a public role and a public task, and they are an elected official. In my perfect world, I’d rather have them not do that.” Baker said. “But I don’t think there’s anything I can do to compel them to change that.”