Negotiation Law Blog - Negotiating Civility: An Idea Whose Time Has Come - Comments http://www.negotiationlawblog.com/ Southern California Arbitration Mediation & Conflict Resolution: Settle it Now Dispute Resolution Services: Serving Los Angeles, Beverly Hills, Century City en Copyright 2012 Thu, 17 May 2012 04:32:58 -0800 Thu, 17 May 2012 04:32:58 -0800 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/?v=4.32-en http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Joe Markowitz I'm all in favor of civility and professionalism, but only because I think civility and professionalism are generally in my clients' interests. The kinds of tactics you are talking about tend to drive up expenses for both sides, without much purpose. They frequently backfire on you. So unless you think of litigation as some kind of siege, where your object is to make the litigation as expensive as possible for both sides until somebody cries uncle, and your client is somehow able to withstand that kind of treatment better than the other side for some reason, there is no benefit to forcing everyone to do everything the hard way. Most of the time, your client is in no better position to put up with unnecessarily painful or expensive litigation tactics any better than the other side, but sometimes clients do want to inflict pain on the other side, without realizing that the other side will cause at least the same amount of pain to them in return. (That is when you might have to talk your own client out of doing something that your client wants to do, but is not really in your client's interests.)

On the other hand, my highest obligation as an advocate is to represent my client zealously within the bounds of the law. So if I perceive a conflict between a code of civility and some advantage to my client in a lawsuit, I am virtually bound to interpret the code as narrowly as is legitimate to advance my client's interests. And that is the whole problem with codes of civility or codes of ethics or any other kind of codes. As you say, lawyers will always game the system. We are bound to do it by the most important principle of our own code of professional responsibility.

]]> http://www.negotiationlawblog.com/legal-practice/negotiating-civility-an-idea-whose-time-has-come/#22774 http://www.negotiationlawblog.com/legal-practice/negotiating-civility-an-idea-whose-time-has-come/#22774 Advice for Young LawyersLegal Practice Tue, 23 Mar 2010 11:39:16 -0800 Victoria Pynchon Ron White Lincoln said it best: "Discourage litigation. Persuade your neighbors to compromise whenever you can. As a peacemaker the lawyer has superior opportunity of being a good man. There will still be business enough." As a lawyer, Lincoln is remembered for his skill as well as his honesty and ethics. The finest lawyers I know are both civil and formidable. Ethics are never situational.

]]> http://www.negotiationlawblog.com/legal-practice/negotiating-civility-an-idea-whose-time-has-come/#22775 http://www.negotiationlawblog.com/legal-practice/negotiating-civility-an-idea-whose-time-has-come/#22775 Advice for Young LawyersLegal Practice Tue, 23 Mar 2010 11:39:16 -0800 Victoria Pynchon