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Court Task Force
Addresses Decline in Attorney Civility
~Does Not Support
Mandatory Professionalism Course for MD Lawyers~
By Janet
Stidman Eveleth
To address
concern over a decline in attorney civility in the state’s legal
profession, a judicial task force is recommending a series of
proposals to enhance professionalism in Maryland’s legal community.
These projected measures include a court commission to oversee
professionalism in Maryland, the development of high professional
standards and guidelines for judges and attorneys, the levying of
sanctions against attorneys for unprofessional behavior and revisions
to discovery guidelines to deal with discovery abuse. The task force
considered but did not support a mandatory professionalism course for
all licensed attorneys, except where it would be used by a judge as a
referral tool to address unprofessional conduct.
After an
18-month study, the Maryland Judicial Task Force on Professionalism (TFP),
chaired by the Honorable Lynne A. Battaglia, issued its final report,
Maryland Judicial Task Force on Professionalism: Reports and
Recommendations, and submitted it to the Court of Appeals of
Maryland on November 10, 2003. In this document, the TFP cites the
need to reaffirm legal professionalism and enhance attorney civility
in Maryland and offers initiatives to attain this goal.
The study
involved 22 town hall meetings representing all Maryland counties plus
intense scrutiny by the attorneys and judges Maryland’s Chief Judge
Robert M. Bell appointed to serve on the TFP. Dialogue and discussion
at these meetings delved into the causes for the overall decline.
Overwhelming economic pressures associated with the everyday practice
of law, discovery disputes, time spent running the law office as a
business, technology, lawyer advertising and the media’s portrayal of
lawyers, long hours and little time for family and community
interaction and increased competition all rated high as contributing
factors.
“We spent the
last year talking to attorneys in Maryland about their vision of
professionalism,” stated Battaglia as she addressed the MSBA Bar
Presidents’ Conference on October 25, 2003. She informed the audience
of state, local and specialty bar leaders that “it was a challenge
even defining professionalism as there is no one definition.” The
range of definitions outlined in the TFP’s report includes civility,
courtesy and respect for colleagues, trust among colleagues,
competence as attorneys, dignity’ punctuality, concern for client
welfare, candor with the court, honesty, integrity and fairness with
both court and counsel.
“We found a
widespread commitment to the need for lawyers to act in concert with
judges to stem any real and perceived threats to the values of
integrity, dignity and civility in the profession,” reports Battaglia.
The TFP is urging the Court to address attorney civility issues in
Maryland’s legal community.
One of the
TFP’s top recommendations is the establishment of a new Court of
Appeals of Maryland Professionalism Commission to advance the value
and importance of professionalism as a core value in Maryland’s legal
process. This Commission would identify the indicia of
professionalism, develop and publish standards of professional conduct
and devise guidelines and sanctions for adoption by the Court.
In addition,
the TFP is urging “judges on all levels to become effective role
models, adhere to the highest of levels of professionalism in the
courtroom and hold all attorneys practicing before them to the same
high standards.” It also suggests that the Court allow judges to levy
sanctions against attorneys for unprofessional behavior. Other
proposals include the appointment of Discovery Masters, enhanced
attorney mentoring opportunities and the development of a better
enforcement mechanism to address the rise in the unauthorized practice
of law.
Finally, the
TFP does not support a mandatory professionalism course for all
licensed attorneys, just a continuation of the one currently required
for all new admits (see Page Two). However, it is asking the
Commission to work with the MSBA to develop an appropriate
professionalism course to be used as a referral tool for judges who
identify unprofessional behavior.
The TFP’s final
report indicates that today’s decline in legal professionalism “is
marked by rancorous discovery disputes, a loss of trust between
lawyers, a breakdown of the traditional mentoring of new lawyers, an
increase in the unauthorized practice of law, a lack of civility in
and out of the courtroom, the failure of courtroom attorneys to treat
witnesses and each other with respect and an increase in lawyer
advertising and unrealistic client expectations. Judges also came
under criticism for oftentimes high-handed, arrogant behavior toward
lawyers.”
“Every county
has a different legal culture,” Battaglia told the bar leaders, “and
issues seem to vary on a geographic basis, but professionalism seems
to be at its highest level in rural jurisdictions where judges and
lawyers know and interact with one another.”
After listening
to over 1,300 attorneys (many with over 50 years of experience), the
TFP considered the results and formulated recommendations to advance
professionalism throughout Maryland’s legal community. The TFP’s
recommendations now await action from the Court of Appeals of
Maryland.
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