On April 8, 2026, the ABA Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility issued Formal Opinion 522 regarding a lawyer’s disclosure obligation under the ABA Model Rules when the lawyer knows information that is reasonably likely to require the  judge’s disqualification, but the judge fails to raise the possibility of recusal. 

Because of the lawyer’s duty of candor to the court, lawyers must be forthcoming with procedural information (as distinct from evidentiary information) that a tribunal may need to ensure proceedings are fair. According to Opinion 522, “[i]nformation that is reasonably likely to give rise to a judicial recusal obligation, if not raised by the judge, is the sort of information that a lawyer must disclose to ensure procedural fairness.”  A failure to do so may violate Model Rule 8.4(d) which prohibits a lawyer from engaging in conduct that is prejudicial to the administration of justice.

While it…