Moonlighting Mass. Judge Steps Down
A Massachusetts probate and family court judge who has been under fire for reportedly running a sideline real estate business and accepting compensation related to his former law practice has agreed to step down and apologized.
Michael Livingstone, 51, will resign from the bench, effective June 12, and is taking accrued leave until them, writes the Boston Herald. His settlement of ethics charges brought by the state Commission on Judicial Conduct also provides that he will not serve again as a Massachusetts judge.
“In addition to his continued management of High Low Properties, the commission alleged Livingstone accepted $49,000 in legal fees from his former practice between 2003 and 2006, while claiming business deductions on his tax returns between 2003 and 2005 as an ‘attorney at law,’ ” the newspaper says.
Livingstone, who was appointed in 2002 and made about $129,000 year as a judge, said in a written apology that “I sincerely regret having created, in my private life, an appearance of impropriety, which although I never intended, violated my obligation to conform even my off-the-bench conduct to the code that governs all judges,” reports the Boston Globe.
More details of the charges against Livingstone and his response are provided in an earlier ABAJournal.com post.
