Commentators have noted the coarsening of American discourse in recent times, which has been marked by deep polarization of issues both within and outside the legal sphere, the inability of warring factions to disagree with each other appropriately and respectfully, and the erosion of civility norms. See, e.g., The Coarsening of American Discourse: Should We Lawyers Remain Silent?, Michael Miller, 90-OCT N.Y. St. B.J. 5 (2018); Be Nice: More States Are Treating Incivility as a Possible Ethics Violation, G.M. Filisko, 98-APR A.B.A. J. 26 (2012); The “Rambo” Problem: Is Mandatory CLE The Way Back To Atticus?, James A. George, 62 La. L. Rev. 467 (2002).

The deterioration of civility standards has taken a severe toll on the practice of law—in particular, in the practice area of matrimonial and domestic relations. While there are many honorable attorneys in our field who approach legal practice with civility and respect, as practitioners, unfortunately, we regularly see evidence of the corrosion of the rules of civility which once provided a framework for how lawyers are to interact with other lawyers—from ugly ad hominem attacks on us personally in court documents and day-to-day correspondence, to accusations of bad faith being slung at us for no more than vigorously defending our clients’ rights and claims, to a failure on the part of other attorneys to extend basic courtesies such as agreeing to extensions of time during periods of serious family emergency.

This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.

To view this content, please continue to their sites.

Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now

Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now

Why am I seeing this?

LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law are third party online distributors of the broad collection of current and archived versions of ALM's legal news publications. LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law customers are able to access and use ALM's content, including content from the National Law Journal, The American Lawyer, Legaltech News, The New York Law Journal, and Corporate Counsel, as well as other sources of legal information.

For questions call 1-877-256-2472 or contact us at [email protected]