By Order dated April 11, 2023, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania amended Rule 1.19 of the Rules of Professional Conduct, concerning lawyers acting as lobbyists, to impose a one-year waiting period before a lawyer leaving public service can engage in lobbying with the same agency.
The amendment adds a new Subsection (c) to the rule which governs the conduct of lawyers acting as lobbyists. The new language states that a lawyer who has served as a public officer or public employee of a governmental body shall not act as a lobbyist before the governmental body with which the lawyer had been associated for one year after termination of the lawyer’s service as a public officer or public employee. The term applies to any activity defined as lobbying by:
- any statute, resolution passed or adopted by either house of the Legislature;
- regulation promulgated by the Executive Branch or any agency of the Commonwealth; or
- ordinance enacted by a local government unit.
The amendment applies only to those who leave service on or after June 1, 2023. The amendment is effective immediately.
Justice Christine Donohue dissented from the order without comment.