Judge Indignant over Chief’s Ethics Letter on Law Firm-Sponsored Golf Outing
A Chicago judge who presides over the county courts’ law division doesn’t know why there’s so much fuss over a golf outing sponsored by two law firms.
Judge William Maddux says he attended the event last year, and he doesn’t see any ethics problem, according to the Chicago Sun-Times and MyFoxChicago.com.
“You think one of the judges in my division can be bought for a lousy game of golf? That’s insulting,” Maddux told the Sun-Times.
“You can’t associate with other people? You can’t accept a social favor? It’s insulting to even bring it up like that. It has to be a really slow news day,” he told the newspaper.
Maddux and other judges skipped the country club outing this year after Cook County Chief Judge Timothy Evans sent a letter quoting the judicial conduct code and urging them to decline the invitation.
The golf outing was organized by plaintiffs lawyer Louis Cairo and corporate defense attorney Manny Sanchez. It would have included valet parking, a luncheon, 18 holes of golf and dinner, according to MyFoxChicago.com.
