The Ethics in Government Act and the Codes of Professional Conduct of state bar associations present a complicated thicket through which both incoming and outgoing government officials, especially lawyers, must negotiate.

On February 14, the Transition to Governing Project and the Federalist Society presented a discussion by a group of distinguished panelists on the ethics rules governing political appointees and the application of those rules. The panels focused on the ramifications of the revolving door for outgoing and incoming government officials and on a case study of In Re Abraham D. Sofaer.

Panelists included Robert Cobb, associate counsel to the president; Amy Comstock, director, Office of Government Ethics; Stephen J. Csontos, ethics officer, Tax Division, Department of Justice; Lloyd Cutler, Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering and former White House counsel to Presidents Carter and Clinton; C. Boyden Gray, Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering and former White House counsel to President Bush; Thomas D. Morgan, George Washington University Law School; Richard W. Painter, University of Illinois College of Law; and Edwin D. Williamson, Sullivan & Cromwell and former legal adviser, Department of State.