Cal. Rules of Prof. Conduct, rule 3.5 · Chapter 3. Advocate
Contact with Judges, Officials, Employees, and Jurors
Text — 2026 edition, as the State Bar of California publishes it (read October 22, 2026)
(a) Except as permitted by statute, an applicable code of judicial ethics or code of judicial conduct, or standards governing employees of a tribunal,* a lawyer shall not directly or indirectly give or lend anything of value to a judge, official, or employee of a tribunal.* This rule does not prohibit a lawyer from contributing to the campaign fund of a judge or judicial officer running for election or confirmation pursuant to applicable law pertaining to such contributions.
(b) Unless permitted to do so by law, an applicable code of judicial ethics or code of judicial conduct, a rule or ruling of a tribunal,* or a court order, a lawyer shall not directly or indirectly communicate with or argue to a judge or judicial officer upon the merits of a contested matter pending before the judge or judicial officer, except:
(1) in open court;
(2) with the consent of all other counsel and any unrepresented parties in the matter;
(3) in the presence of all other counsel and any unrepresented parties in the matter;
(4) in writing* with a copy thereof furnished to all other counsel and any unrepresented parties in the matter; or
(5) in ex parte matters.
(c) As used in this rule, “judge” and “judicial officer” shall also include: (i) administrative law judges; (ii) neutral arbitrators; (iii) State Bar Court judges; (iv) members of an administrative body acting in an adjudicative capacity; and (v) law clerks, research attorneys, or other court personnel who participate in the decision-making process, including referees, special masters, or other persons* to whom a court refers one or more issues and whose decision or recommendation can be binding on the parties if approved by the court.
(d) A lawyer connected with a case shall not communicate directly or indirectly with anyone the lawyer knows* to be a member of the venire from which the jury will be selected for trial of that case.
(e) During trial, a lawyer connected with the case shall not communicate directly or indirectly with any juror.
(f) During trial, a lawyer who is not connected with the case shall not communicate directly or indirectly concerning the case with anyone the lawyer knows* is a juror in the case.
(g) After discharge of the jury from further consideration of a case a lawyer shall not communicate directly or indirectly with a juror if:
(1) the communication is prohibited by law or court order;
(2) the juror has made known* to the lawyer a desire not to communicate; or
(3) the communication involves misrepresentation, coercion, or duress, or is intended to harass or embarrass the juror or to influence the juror’s actions in future jury service.
(h) A lawyer shall not directly or indirectly conduct an out of court investigation of a person* who is either a member of a venire or a juror in a manner likely to influence the state of mind of such person* in connection with present or future jury service.
(i) All restrictions imposed by this rule also apply to communications with, or investigations of, members of the family of a person* who is either a member of a venire or a juror.
(j) A lawyer shall reveal promptly to the court improper conduct by a person* who is either a member of a venire or a juror, or by another toward a person* who is either a member of a venire or a juror or a member of his or her family, of which the lawyer has knowledge.
(k) This rule does not prohibit a lawyer from communicating with persons* who are members of a venire or jurors as a part of the official proceedings.
(l) For purposes of this rule, “juror” means any empaneled, discharged, or excused juror.
Notes and commentary — not rule text
Comment
[1] An applicable code of judicial ethics or code of judicial conduct under this rule includes the California Code of Judicial Ethics and the Code of Conduct for United States Judges. Regarding employees of a tribunal* not subject to judicial ethics or conduct codes, applicable standards include the Code of Ethics for the Court Employees of California and 5 United States Code section 7353 (Gifts to Federal employees). The statutes applicable to adjudicatory proceedings of state agencies generally are contained in the Administrative Procedure Act (Gov. Code, § 11340 et seq.; see Gov. Code, § 11370 [listing statutes with the act].) State and local agencies also may adopt their own regulations and rules governing communications with members or employees of a tribunal.*
[2] For guidance on permissible communications with a juror in a criminal action after discharge of the jury, see Code of Civil Procedure section 206.
[3] It is improper for a lawyer to communicate with a juror who has been removed, discharged, or excused from an empaneled jury, regardless of whether notice is given to other counsel, until such time as the entire jury has been discharged from further service or unless the communication is part of the official proceedings of the case.
Source of truth
- Edition
- 2026 edition, as the State Bar of California publishes it (read October 22, 2026)
- Official file
- https://www.calbar.ca.gov/sites/default/files/portals/0/documents/rules/Rules-of-Professional-Conduct.pdf (PDF pages 47–48)
- Text hash
- sha256 087dec0a69bfdb91fad90879354817f35464ad1024f882aee1e290feb05b1b09
- Composed by
- rpc/build 2026-10-22: the State Bar's 2026 PDF (pages 12-71) read by two readers, PyMuPDF glyph positions and pdfminer with the PDF's tagged structure, agreeing on 834 of 843 paragraphs character for character, the other nine (paragraph boundaries only) resolved against the rendered page; 205,485 printed glyphs accounted for; the State Bar's chapter pages a third reading
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California Rules of Professional Conduct
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