In January, the New York courts system adopted a new version of the Standards of Civility for the state’s legal professionals. The New York State Bar Association’s Committee on Attorney Professionalism spent nearly four years examining the standards to create the first official revision since 1997.

In contrast to the state’s Rules of Professional Conduct, which set out requirements for attorney behavior and provide discipline and sanctions for violations, the Standards of Civility “set forth principles of behavior to which the bar, the bench and court employees should aspire.”