The Judicial inquiry Commission has considered your request for an opinion concerning
whether, under the Alabama Canons of Judicial Ethics, a judge is disqualified from
sitting in a proceeding in which one of the parties is represented by a law firm which
employs the judge’s wife as a secretary. The judge’s wife is a part-time employee, who
may share in a Christmas bonus which reflects the relative financial success of the law
firm. The law firm is a small firm located in a largely rural county in the circuit in which
the judge sits.