How Judges Navigate Offers of Free Lunch, Trips and NBA Tickets

Jeremy Fogel was a California state court judge in the early 1990s when an attorney asked him to lunch at a country club in Palo Alto. It was tradition, the lawyer explained, to extend an invitation to new arrivals.

Fogel declined. In an interview, he said that throughout his career — he was nominated to the federal bench by former President Bill Clinton — he tried to avoid situations that might give the impression he was being offered something because of his position, even if the rules allowed it.

“The thing that mattered most was that you were fair, the ...