3. Civility

3A. Issues of Incivility in Legal Profession

Read the Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Professionalism Study of Illinois Lawyers and discuss the following questions about the incivility in the legal profession. http://www.ilsccp.org/pdfs/surveyonprofessionalism_final.pdf

  1. What does "civility" mean in the context of the legal profession? How is it different from the dictionary definition of "politeness"? Read Professional Attitude from the ABA Journal and consider how Justice Kennedy defines "civility": http://books.google.com/books?id=hBuePNuK3hMC&pg=PA66&lpg=PA66&dq=louis+pollak+professiona l+attitude&source=bl&ots=s9V8khi3mP&sig=XbJBfl36NTFLi- tlLKoxb07O wo&hl=en&ei=fis TdOLD4ep8AbCm 2uCg&sa=X&oi=book result&ct=result&resnum=3&ve d=0CCYQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q&f=false
  2. What types of uncivil or unprofessional behavior do lawyers most frequently encounter?
  3. How serious is the problem and has it changed over time?
  4. How are lawyers dealing with unprofessional behavior when they encounter it? What did you learn in law school about dealing with unprofessional behavior?
  5. What are the causes of incivility? Discuss the driving factors behind incivility and how these may be encountered in practice. Consider some of these examples:
  6. Client expectations based on how lawyers are portrayed in the media and entertainment.
  7. Increased competition among growing numbers of lawyers.
  8. Dissatisfaction of attorneys with their work or profession.
  9. A generally negative perception of lawyers by the public.
  10. Overburdened and overworked court systems.
  11. Abuse of the discovery process.
  12. Belief that civility may be perceived as weakness.
  13. What are ways that attorneys can address the above examples (or others) to improve civility and professionalism?
  14. Share with the new lawyer stories of attorneys who have ultimately harmed their client because of their incivility and lack of consideration in dealing with opposing counsel, the judge or the jury.

Resources:

http://www.abanet.org/abapubs/lrc/pdfs/ortego.pdf

Incivility: An Insult to the Professional and the Profession by Joseph J. Ortego and Lindsay Maleson

http://justice.law.stetson.edu/LAWREV/abstracts/PDF/28-2CARY.pdf

Jean M. Cary, TEACHING ETHICS AND PROFESSIONALISM IN LITIGATION: SOME THOUGHTS

© 2007 and 2011 Revised Edition by Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Professionalism