Canon 3: A Federal Public Defender Employee Should Adhere to Appropriate Standards in Performing the Duties of the Office

In performing the duties prescribed by law, by resolution of the Judicial Conference of the United States, by court order, or by the federal public defender, the following standards apply:

A. A defender employee should respect and comply with the law and these canons. A defender employee should report to the appropriate supervising authority any attempt to induce the defender employee to violate these canons.

Note: A number of criminal statutes of general applicability govern defender employees’ performance of official duties. These include:

• 18 U.S.C. § 201 (bribery of public officials and witnesses);

• 18 U.S.C. § 211 (acceptance or solicitation to obtain appointive public office);

• 18 U.S.C. § 285 (taking or using papers relating to government claims);

• 18 U.S.C. § 287 (false, fictitious, or fraudulent claims against the government);

• 18 U.S.C. § 508 (counterfeiting or forging transportation requests);

• 18 U.S.C. § 641 (embezzlement or conversion of government money, property, or records);

• 18 U.S.C. § 643 (failing to account for public money);

• 18 U.S.C. § 798 and 50 U.S.C. § 783 (disclosure of classified information);

• 18 U.S.C. § 1001 (fraud or false statements in a government matter);

• 18 U.S.C. § 1719 (misuse of franking privilege);

• 18 U.S.C. § 2071 (concealing, removing, or mutilating a public record);

• 31 U.S.C. § 1344 (misuse of government vehicle);

• 31 U.S.C. § 3729 (false claims against the government). This is not a comprehensive listing but sets forth some of the more significant provisions with which defender employees should be familiar.

B. A defender employee should be faithful to professional standards and maintain competence in the defender employee’s profession.

C. A defender employee should be patient, dignified, respectful, and courteous to all persons with whom the defender employee deals in an official capacity, including other employees and the general public. A defender employee should not engage in sexual or other forms of harassment of other employees or retaliate against those who report misconduct. A defender employee should hold personnel under the defender employee’s direction to similar standards. A defender employee should take appropriate action upon receipt of reliable information indicating a likelihood of conduct contravening this Code. Appropriate action depends on the circumstances and may include, for example, reporting such conduct to a supervisor, court executive, or chief judge. For relevant elaboration, see Code of Conduct for United States Judges, Commentary to Canons 3B(4) and 3B(6). A defender employee should diligently discharge the responsibilities of the office in a nondiscriminatory fashion.

D.

(1) A defender employee should not solicit or accept a payment of money or anything of value from a client, except that a defender employee may accept an appropriate memento or token that is neither money nor of commercial value.

(2) A defender employee should not use for personal gain any confidential information received in the course of official duties.

(3) A defender employee should never disclose any confidential communications from a client, or any other confidential information received in the course of official duties, except as authorized by law. A former defender employee should observe the same restrictions on disclosure of confidential information that apply to a current defender employee. This general restriction on use or disclosure of confidential information does not prevent, nor should it discourage, an employee or former employee from reporting or disclosing misconduct, including sexual or other forms of harassment, by a judge, supervisor, or other person.

E. A defender employee should not engage in nepotism prohibited by law.

Note: See also 5 U.S.C. § 3110 (employment of relatives); 28 U.S.C. § 458 (employment of judges’ relatives).

F. Conflicts of Interest

(1) In providing legal representation to clients, a public defender should observe applicable rules of professional conduct governing the disclosure and avoidance of conflicts of interest.

(2) In the performance of administrative duties, a defender employee should avoid conflicts of interest. A conflict of interest arises when a defender employee knows that he or she (or the spouse, minor child residing in the defender employee’s household, or other close relative of the defender employee) might be so personally or financially affected by a matter that a reasonable person with knowledge of the relevant facts would question the defender employee’s ability properly to perform administrative duties.

(3) When a defender employee knows that a conflict of interest may be presented in the performance of duties, the defender employee should promptly inform the federal public defender. The federal public defender, after determining that a conflict or the appearance of a conflict of interest exists, should take appropriate steps to restrict the defender employee’s performance of duties in such a matter so as to avoid a conflict or the appearance of a conflict of interest. If the conflict involves a conflict between or among clients, the federal public defender should consider withdrawal from one or more representations, or other appropriate remedial actions, as necessary to comply with applicable rules of professional conduct. A defender employee should observe any restrictions imposed by the federal public defender in this regard.