(1999)

Dear Lawrence R. Daniels

You have requested our opinion whether a federal statute preempts the State Code of Judicial Conduct, as interpreted by the Maryland Judicial Ethics Committee. Specifically, the Committee concluded that a State circuit court judge who serves as a Staff Judge Advocate or military judge in the Maryland Army National Guard would be practicing law in violation of Canon 4 of the Code of Judicial Conduct. You ask whether the federal Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 ("USERRA"), which generally forbids discrimination against an employee who…