Judge in Kesha Lawsuit Had Conflict of Interest

Remember when a New York judge ruled that Kesha couldn't record outside her contract with Dr. Luke, whose record label is a subsidiary of Sony? E! News reports that the judge who made that decision, Shirley Werner Kornreich, is married to lawyer Ed Kornreich, whose lawfirm reps Sony. A legal expert weighs in as follows:

"Judges are required under the New York state canon of judicial ethics to avoid even the appearance of impropriety. This means judges are not supposed to preside over cases where they have an actual or potential financial interest in the outcome. The rules go so far as to say that even somebody in the judge's family should not have a financial interest in the outcome of litigation. Kesha's lawyers could now be in a position to seek that every ruling of this judge be redone by a new neutral and impartial judge who does not suffer from potential or actual bias. Basically, Kesha can probably get a do-over if she wants. A judge has a duty to recuse themselves from a case in which there is an actual conflict. If a judge's spouse has a financial interest in the litigation (i.e. is a partner at a law firm representing one of the parties), that seems like an actual conflict to me."