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Civil Litigation

Nov. 13, 2024

Walking the fine line between incivility and zealous advocacy in civil litigation

Courts should not attribute the combative nature of litigation to a chronic mental disease requiring lawyers to be mentally evaluated. They instead should focus on whether attorneys are acting within the bounds of the law and being zealous advocates for their clients.

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What's a practitioner to do when incivility arises in the form of cheating in litigation? The courts seem obsessed with the combative nature and exchanges that arise when incivility takes the form of words and insults. In its purest form, incivility arises when one side chooses to stray from what is fair and just.

Using incivility as a measure is subjective and often results in an implication to due process rights. Attempting to regulate civility is as a...

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