Effective Date of Compliance and Effective Date

When a judge becomes subject to these ethics rules, they need to get their personal and financial affairs in line with the rules as quickly as they reasonably can. This means a judge can't just ignore conflicts of interest indefinitely once the rules apply to them.

There is some flexibility built in, though. If a judge is already very busy and the risk of a real conflict of interest is low, they can keep certain roles they already held when the rules took effect. For example, a judge can continue serving as an officer, director, or advisor for a family business. A judge can also continue acting as an executor, trustee, or similar role managing someone else's estate, even if that person isn't a family member.

This rule mainly gives judges a reasonable transition period instead of forcing them to drop all outside responsibilities overnight. The Code itself became effective on July 1, 2012, so these transition rules applied to judges adjusting to the new standards at that time.