"Off the Record" Emails -- What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

As if that crazy fire-fee case could not get any crazier, we have this:

Lawyer Lorena Schwartz, clerk to Circuit Judge Jose Rodriguez, sent an e-mail Sept. 17 asking for advice on how plaintiffs seeking the fee settlement could strengthen their case. The e-mail went to lawyers representing the city — not the lawyers in the class-action lawsuit who represent residents wrongly charged the fee.
Judge Rodriguez had been holding hearings on the amount of fees to go to the plaintiffs' lawyers.
Ms. Schwartz works in the Eleventh Judicial Circuit's office of the General Counsel, a team that assists, conducts research and aids judges in trials.
In the e-mail, Ms. Schwartz asks the two lawyers for "off the record" advice on whether having three residents who testified in the attorneys' legal fees hearing testify on the settlement would strengthen the class counsel's argument. She refers to the testimonies of the four main residents who brought the suit as "flawed."
Ms. Schwartz also writes in parentheses that the request is: "made by me and not the judge (Mr. Rodriguez) and totally off the record."
In the motion made Tuesday (9/29), the plaintiffs' lawyers say the email creates "fear or concern" that the settlement won't get a "fair consideration."

Personally, I'm not sure about the communication in the first place, but I'm pretty sure if you're going to have that conversation you ought to use that old-fashioned device on your desk that Alexander Graham Bell came up with a long time ago. Just ask Alberto Carvalo about "off the record" emails.

BTW, I think the order's pretty much written, no?