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August 2022Volume 53Number 1PDF icon PDF version (for best printing)

Civility: A Duty Owed by All Lawyers

The COVID-19 pandemic has taken an enormous toll on us. It imposed a human cost: as of July 2022, more than one million Americans have reportedly died from COVID-19,1 and even those who recovered may still suffer “a number of long-term health problems such as persistent pulmonary damage, post-viral fatigue, and chronic cardiac complications.”2 It imposed an economic cost: damaging the global economy, disrupting international trade relationships, and causing unemployment. It imposed a political cost: “disrupting international politics and creating new tensions between adversaries and allies alike.”3 And it imposed a social cost: separating families, friends, and neighbors through social distancing mandates and stay-at-home orders, and preventing in-person activities like classroom learning and restaurant dining.

The social cost of COVID-19 has researchers and commentators wondering, “Has COVID-19 occasioned a crisis of civility?” and “[is] Civility dead?”4 As one author aptly remarked, “Less tangible, but more insidious, is the growing sign that the uncertainty, angst, isolation, and distancing of the past [many] months has emboldened a small but growing number of individuals to become more disruptive and confrontational, and less civil and tolerant in their interactions with public officials, businesses, co-workers, neighbors and strangers.”5 The same may be true for interactions between lawyers, as costs of the pandemic include greater disruptions to home life stemming from remote work,6 more requests from opposing counsel for deadline extensions, and disagreements over whether proceedings should take place in-person or virtually.7

But—global pandemic, or not—lawyers have an obligation to treat one another with civility and courtesy. Article VIII of the Illinois Rules of Professional Conduct imposes upon all lawyers the “obligation zealously to protect and pursue a client’s legitimate interests, within the bounds of the law, while maintaining a professional, courteous and civil attitude toward all persons involved in the legal system.”8 This responsibility stems from the lawyer’s role as “an officer of the legal system and a public citizen having special responsibility for the quality of justice.”9 Similarly, the Standards for Professional Conduct within the Seventh Federal Judicial Circuit—which have been adopted by the Northern District of Illinois10—set forth the “Lawyers’ Duties to Other Counsel,” which include “treat[ing] all other counsel, parties, and witnesses in a civil and courteous manner, not only in court, but also in all other written and oral communications.”11 The seventh circuit’s standards further require lawyers to refrain from “offensive conduct,” “disparaging personal remarks or acrimony,” and “unfounded accusations of impropriety.”12

A lawyer’s responsibility to treat others with civility has been recognized by courts as well. For example, in Adger v. R&L Management Co., Inc., the federal district court referred to the duty to act civilly and courteously as a reminder “about how we should treat each other, as human beings as well as lawyers and judges.”13 In Evans v. Dart, another federal district court “note[d] with dismay the unprofessional tone of Plaintiffs’ counsel’s letter, a letter riddled with sarcastic rhetorical questions and screenshots of text messages airing interpersonal conflicts,” and remarked that “[s]uch communication reflects poorly on the legal profession and are [sic] inconsistent with the court’s expectations.”14 Similarly, in In re GSSI Liquidation, Inc., the bankruptcy court admonished the lawyers for making “rude” and “improper” arguments in violation of the seventh circuit’s standards, which “ill serve[d] their clients and adversely affect[ed] each counsel’s credibility.”15 The court cautioned that the lawyers “can rest assured that judges are not impressed or persuaded by those types of rude arguments.” The lawyers in U.S. Neurosurgical, Inc. v. City of Chicago went even further, launching “unnecessary and unfounded attacks on opposing counsel” that prompted the court to strike the offending remarks.16

While these judicial opinions serve as good reminders, ultimately, it is not the job of the judiciary to remind lawyers to act civilly. As the American Bar Association put it, “The legal profession is largely self-governing.” It is therefore each lawyer’s responsibility to ensure his or her compliance with the applicable legal, ethical, and professional duties—including the duty of civility.



Valerie Brummel is a commercial litigator with Riley Safer Holmes & Cancila LLP.

1. Coronavirus in the U.S.: Latest Map and Case Count, The New York Times, available at https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/us/covid-cases.html (last updated and accessed July 7, 2022).


2. Bonotti, M., Zech, S.T. (2021). The Human, Economic, Social, and Political Costs of COVID-19. In: Recovering Civility during COVID-19. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-6706-7_1.

3. Id.

4. Matteo Bonotti & Steven Zech, Has COVID-19 occasioned a crisis of civility? Responding to the social and political challenges of the pandemic, Mar. 17, 2021, ABC, available at https://www.abc.net.au/religion/covid-19-and-the-crisis-of-civility/13256582 (last accessed July 7, 2022); Nathan Lederman, Civility dead? How the pandemic’s end could affect civility in the Bay State, Mar. 18, 2022, Telegram & Gazette, available at https://www.telegram.com/story/news/local/2022/03/18/civility-dead-how-pandemics-end-could-affect-civility-bay-state/7033420001/ (last accessed July 7, 2022).

5. Executive Director’s Reports, Incivility on the rise, another harmful symptom of the pandemic, Nov. 2021, available at https://www.mma.org/advocacy/incivility-on-the-rise-another-harmful-symptom-of-the-pandemic/ (last accessed July 7, 2022).

6. Carol Schiro Greenwald, COVID-19 and Its Lasting Impact on the Legal Profession, Oct. 13, 2021, NYSBA, available at https://nysba.org/covid-19-and-its-lasting-impact-on-the-legal-profession/ (last accessed July 7, 2022)(“One negative impact mentioned by several lawyers is the change in clients’ definition of responsiveness. Clients now expect their lawyers to be available 24/7.”); IABA’s Profile of the Legal Profession Explores COVID-19’s Lasting Impact, Aug. 12, 2021, 2 Civility, available at https://www.2civility.org/the-aba-profile-of-the-legal-profession-explores-covid-19s-lasting-impact/ (last accessed July 7, 2022) (“While a majority of all lawyers (51%) felt it was hard to separate work and home during the pandemic, women (63%) and lawyers of color (62%) were more likely to struggle in this regard. Almost half of lawyers felt disengaged from their employer during the pandemic and overwhelmed by all they had to do.”).

7. Jack Karp, COVID’s Impact on Litigation To Persist In 2022, Jan. 4, 2022, Law360, available at https://www.lw.com/mediaCoverage/covid-impact-litigation-persist-2022 (last accessed July 7, 2022) (“Remote court proceedings and depositions are here to stay, as is the ongoing backlog in trials, litigators say.”).

8. M.R. 3140, Article VIII. Illinois Rules of Professional Conduct of 2010, Preamble: a Lawyer’s Responsibilities, available at https://ilcourtsaudio.blob.core.windows.net/antilles-resources/resources/0c94eda9-0b73-4ea2-bc1d-4200e503f2a1/070109.pdf (last accessed July 7, 2022) (emphasis added); see also Model Rules of Professional Conduct: Preamble & Scope, American Bar Association, available at https://www.americanbar.org/groups/professional_responsibility/publications/model_rules_of_professional_conduct/model_rules_of_professional_conduct_preamble_scope/ (last accessed July 7, 2022) (same).

9. Id.

10. See Local Rules, Standards for Professional Conduct, United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, available athttps://www.ilnd.uscourts.gov/LocalRules.aspx (last accessed July 7, 2022).

11. Standards for Professional Conduct Within the Seventh Federal Judicial Circuit, United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, available at https://www.ca7.uscourts.gov/rules-procedures/rules/rules.htm#standards (last accessed July 7, 2022) (emphasis added).

12. Although “[t]he Seventh Circuit's Standards for Professional Conduct are not a basis for any penalty or sanction,” “they provide lawyers and judges with a helpful guidepost.” Adger v. R&L Mgmt. Co., Inc., 2019 WL 2511872, at *3 (N.D. Ill. June 17, 2019).

13. 2019 WL 2511872, at *3.

14. 2021 WL 2329372, at *5 n.9 (N.D. Ill. June 8, 2021).

15. 389 B.R. 636, 638 (Bankr. N.D. Ill. June 25, 2008).

16. 2006 WL 752970, at *1-2 (N.D. Ill. Mar. 21, 2006) (“As recognized in the Seventh Circuit’s Preamble to the Standards for Professional Conduct, ‘conduct that may be characterized as uncivil, abrasive, abusive, hostile, or obstructive impedes the fundamental goal of resolving disputes rationally, peacefully, and efficiently. Such conduct tends to delay and often to deny justice.’”).

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