Court employee code of conduct contemplated.

Thinking of sending a big fruit basket to the court clerks to thank them for helping you file that motion at 4:59 p.m. -- just in the nick of time?

How about getting in the good graces of the chief judge's assistant you were a bit snippy with over the phone with a thoughtful gift certificate to her favorite store?

Tempted to hire that super efficient assistant court administrator to help with paperwork back at your firm after hours?

Forget about it. It's Florida, and the rules are different now.

At least that's what 11th Circuit Judge Scott Silverman hopes, as chair of the Judicial Ethics Advisory Committee, which has come up with a proposed Code of Conduct for Court Employees.

The underlying premise of the proposed code, Silverman said, is to make this clear to court employees: "You will be held to higher standards. Court employees, like judges, should be held to a higher standard than any other government employees. The judicial system represents the final bastion where an individual can receive justice. And the perception must also remain inviolate and sacred."

It wasn't so much that rampant abuses had sprung to attention. Rather, Silverman said, the need for a code was exposed when a judge asked the committee the following question: "May a judge and/or court employee accept gifts, including money and redeemable gift certificates, from lawyers, vendors, or other third parties?"

And in JEAC Op. 2000-08 (March 1, 2000), the committee responded firmly that judges may not accept such gifts.

But, then, the committee's opinion acknowledged a gaping hole when it comes to court employees: "The Code of Judicial Conduct does not directly preclude court employees from accepting money and redeemable gift certificates from lawyers, vendors, or other third parties. Nevertheless, a judge is ethically obligated to instruct court personnel to act in a manner consistent with the judge's ethical duties and obligations by directing them not to accept such donations."

That opinion recognized that "it is extraordinarily difficult, and nearly impossible, for judges to maintain exhaustive oversight over court employees."

And so, the new proposed code was born.

"The code is long overdue, yet it is probably one of the finest in the country," said Judge Silverman, appreciative of the time of the committee members made of up 10 judges and one attorney, with help from a court administrator, court clerk, counsel for the court clerks association, law students and a...