Article. Abstract:
As
there continue to be incidents of attorneys slapping opposing counsel at
depositions, attorneys personally attacking each other during
litigation (including in one case disparaging remarks about an
attorney’s alleged lack of parenting ability), and numerous other rude
and disrespectful behavior by attorneys, incivility remains a pervasive
problem in the legal profession. The response thus far to incivility
by the legal profession includes voluntary civility codes and calls for
professionalism. These responses fail to address the systemic issue of
incivility in the legal profession. As a result, several states added
civility to their oaths of admission, while several jurisdictions took
the final step by making civility mandatory.
This article
discusses how civility can be enforced, as well as the benefits of
mandatory civility and the purported disadvantages of mandatory
civility. This article concludes that state bars should make civility
mandatory and hold attorneys to a higher standard of conduct. As the
former United States Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor said,
"More civility and greater professionalism can only enhance the pleasure
lawyers find in practice, increase the effectiveness of our system of
justice, and improve the public’s perception of lawyers."