Fine, but you are either a troll or the worst "lawyer" ever. A govt IP can come from pretty much anywhere, and even if it did come from a court house could mean it had wifi and you were the janitor who failed out of undergrad prelaw. Here is the damn rule(idiot) Rule 8.4(e)
Misconduct
A lawyer or law firm shall not:
(a) violate or attempt to violate the Rules of Professional
Conduct, knowingly assist or induce another
to do so, or do so through the acts of another;
(b) engage in illegal conduct that adversely reflects on
the lawyer’s honesty, trustworthiness or fitness as a
lawyer;
(c) engage in conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit
or misrepresentation;
(d) engage in conduct that is prejudicial to the administration
of justice;
(e) state or imply an ability:
(1) to influence improperly or upon irrelevant
grounds any tribunal, legislative body or public
official; or
(2) to achieve results using means that violate these
Rules or other law;
Let's go to the comments and see how this rule applies:Attorneys should also be aware of the constraints imposed upon them by the Code of Professional Responsibility in making campaign contributions to candidates for Attorney General, District Attorney or similar offices. In particular, DR 9-101(C) bars a lawyer from "stating or implying that the lawyer is able to influence improperly or upon irrelevant grounds any tribunal, legislative body, or public official." Thus, an attorney who makes a donation to a candidate for an office such as Attorney General may not represent, either explicitly or by implication of any kind, that the attorney can or expects or even hopes to obtain favorable treatment as a result of the donation. Certainly, it follows that attorneys should not make contributions for the purpose of influencing any public official on behalf of their clients, regardless of whether the attorneys assert or imply the power to assert such influences. Attorneys who do not contribute in order to influence candidates improperly should not be concerned that the candidates will be unaware of their contributions. Indeed, every legitimate reason for contributing to a political campaign -- for example, to assist the candidate believed best qualified for the job in attaining office -- is served by the mere making of the contribution without attribution.
Let's also look at an ethics opinion regarding the meaning of "tribunal" in this particular Rule: http://www.philadelphiabar.org/page/EthicsOpinion87-28?appNum=1"However, because clients hire attorneys to go into court and deal with government agencies and officials, including but not limited to, court officials and judges, the slogan further implies impermissible and unsubstantiated influence
with the court system and those who work in it. As such, it violates DR9-l0l8 and Model Rule 8.4(e)."
So, what have we learned?(1) The Rule specifically applies to LAWYERS AND LAW FIRMS trying to exert influence over a judge or his staff (the "tribunal") from the outside. As a law clerk, I am part of the "tribunal." Once again, if your logic prevailed, it would lead to absurd results: No law clerk could sit in a judge's office, talk to him about a case, and then attempt to persuade him that the ruling should be otherwise; (2) The Rule speaks to
improper influence. Nothing about what I do is "improper" - especially when my judge consents to it; (3) There's also this thing called the "First Amendment." As long as what I say or write is not false, misleading, deceptive, defamatory, confidential (I'm disclosing publicly-known facts about the general decision-making process of courts as a whole), or not of public concern (which it clearly is - Senators and academics alike have commented on the profound influence clerks have on the decision-making process); my posts in this thread cannot constitute a violation of the rules of professional conduct.
You want to know why there are no cases out there to support your position? Because if such a case was brought, any judge would laugh you out of court on every reason I cited above. Some times you have to use a bit of common sense.