The Judicial Inquiry Commission has considered your request for an opinion concerning
whether a judge violates the Canons of Judicial Ethics by continuing a business
arrangement in which the judge and an attorney each own a one-half interest in the
building in which the attorney maintains his private law practice. The ownership is a
joint ownership and the attorney and the judge are jointly liable on the mortgage. Prior
to ascending the bench, the judge maintained a separate law practice occupying onehalf
of the same building.