February 22, 2013 - Oregon State Bar

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Lawyers Behaving Badly Get A Dressing Down From Civility Cops - WS... http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323539804578263733... 1 of 4 1/29/2013 12:44 PM Dow Jones Reprints: This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. To order presentation-ready copies for distribution to your colleagues, clients or customers, use the Order Reprints tool at the bottom of any article or visit www.djreprints.com See a sample reprint in PDF format. Order a reprint of this article now THE A-HED By JENNIFER SMITH Updated January 27, 2013, 10:35 p.m. ET Lawyers Behaving Badly Get A Dressing Down From Civility Cops Adversarial System Grows Obscenely Nasty; 'Get More Results With Sugar' A group of attorneys concerned about bad manners in their profession held a musical revue at a downtown Manhattan law firm, complete with doctored song lyrics. WSJ's Jennifer Smith reports. In New York one night recently, U.S. District Judge Richard Sullivan donned his robes, walked onstage and belted out to his colleagues this heartfelt plea for lawyerly politeness (to the tune of "If I Were a Rich Man"): "If lawyers were more civil Daidle deedle daidle daidle daidle deedle daidle dum They'd treat their breth-er-en with more respect Wouldn't always yell, 'object.' " The ditty struck a nerve—and brought down the house, a largely pinstriped crowd of 80 or so lawyers there for a musical refresher course on the virtues of civility. But it is no laughing matter to those who fret that a tide of rudeness has engulfed the legal profession.
Lawyers Behaving Badly Get A Dressing Down From Civility Cops - WS... http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323539804578263733... 2 of 4 1/29/2013 12:44 PM From courtroom yelling matches to insulting letters and depositions that turn into fistfights, some lawyers and judges worry that the adversarial system of justice has gotten a little too adversarial. To rein in "Rambo" litigators, the politeness patrol is pushing etiquette lessons, and even seeking to have civility included in attorney oaths. The well-mannered caution that lawyers who shout, lie and shoot off vulgar emails don't merely alienate judges and juries. They also slow the wheels of justice and cost clients money. "Lawyers already have a bad enough reputation," said Stewart Aaron, a litigator and head of Arnold & Porter LLP's New York office. He performed alongside Judge Sullivan in the revue. The show—titled "A Civility Seder" and put together by the New York Inn of Court, a legal group that promotes collegiality and ethical behavior—might be the most colorful example of the manners movement. But it pales beside the R-rated antics of the attorneys whose behavior inspired it. Take, for instance, lawyer Marvin Gerstein of Illinois, who has been disciplined three times for his profane epistolary style, according to the Attorney Registration & Disciplinary Commission of the Illinois Supreme Court. Over the years, Mr. Gerstein has sent letters to legal adversaries calling them, variously, a "fool," "idiot," "slimeball," and other names unfit for publication. He has also suggested opponents have their heads inserted so far into an unpleasant place that they "think it's a rose garden," language that an expert witness for Mr. Gerstein said served a business purpose by vividly demonstrating the point. Claudio Papapietro for The Wall Street Journal Ain't Misbehavin'? Attorney Peter Dizozza, right, accompanies a song about civility and ethical behavior. The disciplinary commission rejected that argument, although a dissenting member argued that his conduct was protected by the First Amendment. "If you cross the line with me, you get both barrels," said an unrepentant Mr. Gerstein. He has since dialed his language back to avoid further sanctions, he said, but "it's none of their business what goes on between two attorneys." Jaw-droppingly outrageous conduct is rare, even the most ardent defenders of decorum agree. More common are small-bore disputes: lawyers whose sniping, in person and on paper, can spiral out of control. "When I'm upset, I can feel the testosterone rising, and I can literally feel my judgment declining," said David Casselman, a senior partner at Wasserman, Comden, Casselman, & Esensten LLP in Tarzana, Calif., and a co-chair of the American Board of Trial Advocates' committee on professionalism, ethics and civility. "It's so easy to slide into tit-for-tat mode." Last month Indiana's Supreme Court chastised lawyers on both sides of a $1.75 million medical negligence lawsuit for making excessive objections and for "the unnecessary sparring and outright contemptuous conduct of each attorney directed toward the other." "A jury trial is not a free-for-all," Justice Steven H. David wrote. Whether the problem is worse now is hard to quantify. Professional codes instruct lawyers to be
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February 22, 2013 - Oregon State Bar

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