Practical Applications
of Ethics Codes:
Gifts Gifts Gifts –
Court Employees
Accepting Gratitude
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• Become familiar with ethics codes.
• Understand why ethics codes are important
to us as court professionals.
• Determine how courts should deal with gifts
of appreciation from regular customers.
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• A fair and independent court system is essential to
the administration of justice in a democratic
society.
• Court professionals strive to:
 inspire public confidence and trust in our
courts; and
 convey impartiality, equality, fairness and
integrity.
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Gifts Gifts Gifts
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National Association for Court Management’s
Model Code of Conduct for Court Professionals
NACM Model Code
Canon 3.3 - Avoiding Gifts
A court professional shall not solicit, accept, agree to
accept, or dispense any gift, favor, or loan either for
oneself or on behalf of another based upon any
understanding, either explicit or implicit, that would
influence an official action of the court.
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Isn’t there a big difference between offering a gift as a
thank you and presenting a gift expecting a return
favor?
Response #1 - Yes. Rachel Dexter (although she
never even admitted to sending the chocolates) was
simply thanking the court staff for their hard work.
Unless the Dexter law firm overtly implied that it
wanted some reciprocal action we need to take the
chocolates at face value: the act of kindness it was
obviously meant to be.
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Isn’t there a big difference between offering a gift as a
thank you and presenting a gift expecting a return
favor?
Response #2 - It is laughably naïve to even think that
the Dexter law firm sent an unacknowledged gift to
the Court out of shear kindheartedness. Law firms
are businesses and this law firm was sending the
chocolates as a hedge against an undetermined
future court problem staff might be able to help
resolve.
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Is Owen Edwards, taking a courageous path in what
he is doing or is he being too obsessive –
compulsive?
Response #1 - Owen Edwards is taking the
courageous path. There are many examples of gift
giving “getting out of hand” even in courts. Let’s
face it, despite what she says, attorney Rachel
Dexter’s firm expects something in return for their
largess.
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Is Owen Edwards, taking a courageous path in what
he is doing or is he being too obsessive –
compulsive?
Response #2 - Elizabeth’s comment to Mr. Edwards
is spot on. “If the court’s customers think the staff
can be bought off by a box of chocolates then it is
insulting.” In addition if people really think that then
no policy is going to alter that perception.
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Is it acceptable for Rachel Dexter to send a gift to the
Court?
Response #1 - The responsibility to prohibit gifts lies
squarely on Owen Edwards. Rachel Dexter’s law firm
is not required to live up to the Court’s ethics code.
The law firm is working from the principle of what
make s good business sense.
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Is it acceptable for Rachel Dexter to send a gift to the
Court?
Response #2 - Law firms are a member of the
broader justice community, and everyone has a
shared responsibility for the integrity of the system.
Owen Edwards needs to ensure the Court does
accept gifts; the Dexter needs to stop tempting staff
by sending gifts that could be interpreted poorly.
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Is Elizabeth appropriately supportive of Owen
Edwards?
Response #1 - No. Despite what she says, Elizabeth
is only reacting to Mr. Edwards directives. Someone
at Elizabeth’s level in a court needs to fully appreciate
the underlying ethical implication of accepting gifts.
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Is Elizabeth appropriately supportive of Owen
Edwards?
Response #2 – It doesn’t matter if Elizabeth is
“appropriately supportive,” she is supervising her
staff according to Mr. Edwards’ directives. It is
Elizabeth and the staff’s behavior that counts, not
what their motivation is behind the behavior.
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What can the court do in these situations?
Response #1 - The court needs to keep reminding
staff, through stories and news accounts of the
unpleasant consequences of accepting gifts and
potential bribes. There is no shortage of available
accounts to drive the message home.
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Determine what your own
answers are to the questions
asked here.
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•It’s the integrity of the Judicial Branch
•It’s more than just personnel rules
•It’s not just right & wrong answers
•It’s your job to make the code relevant
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Log onto the NACM Website Ethics Page:
http://www.ncsconline.org/Nacmethics/
Or the NACM Ethics Hotline:
http://www.nacmnet.org/ethics/hotline.asp
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