As the year comes to a close, it seems appropriate to take a look back at Northern District events that may have not received as much coverage as they should have. For example, in March, the Northern District Historical Society honored long-time practitioners in a program called "Then and Now: a Half-Century of Greatness." One of the sentiments expressed by panelists was a perceived decline of civility among lawyers in the current "win at all cost" atmosphere. The Northern District's formal adoption in June of Guidelines for Professional Conduct may help reverse any trend towards unnecessary hostility in litigation.
As recently discussed on this Blog, revised Civil Local Rule 11 now requires that applicants seeking admission to practice in the District must certify that he or she is familiar with the new Guidelines. This month, the Court also revised the Standing Order For All Judges to require attorneys to indicate in Joint Case Management Statements "Whether all attorneys of record for the parties have reviewed" the Guidelines. Similar language now also appears in the Joint Case Management & Proposed Order Form itself.
The Guidelines and examples provided therein are intended to illustrate "guiding principles" on each practitioner's duties of "civility, professional integrity, personal dignity, candor, diligence, respect, courtesy, cooperation and competence." Several stated principles and examples are fairly obvious, including that "A lawyer should be punctual in communications with others and in honoring scheduled appearances." Others appear fair and likely to avoid discovery disputes, such as "When a deposition is scheduled and noticed by another party for the reasonably near future, a lawyer should ordinarily not schedule another deposition for an earlier date without the agreement of opposing counsel."
But some principles and examples are not so clear in application. For example, the Guidelines state that "A lawyer should honor requests made by opposing counsel during trial that do not prejudice his or her client's rights or sacrifice a tactical advantage," highlighting the inherent tension between courtesy to an opponent and the underlying duty to zealously represent the interests of one's client. Nevertheless, the Guidelines encourage counsel to represent their clients "within highest bounds of professionalism."
While the Guidelines do not supersede any applicable rules or Court order, they otherwise state that practitioners "shall be deemed to have pledged to adhere to the Guidelines." However, the Northern District "does not anticipate that these Guidelines will be relied upon as the basis for a motion."
Assuming the Guidelines are followed as intended, perhaps the panelists at the Historical Society's "Half-Century of Greatness" program in 2064 will cite the Guidelines implementation as the beginning of a return to better days of litigation.
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