4 | July/August 2023 | BAEC Bulletin
Letter from the President
Later in my career, I again learned about civility. This time from being a member of the Board of Directors of this Bar Association. I was fortunate. I had a front row seat and was able to watch Presidents of this organization carry out their duties with civility. For example, I was Treasurer when Oliver Young was President. It was a presidential election year, and the nation was deeply divided. Oliver led this organization with civility. He was calming and unifying and tolerant of different views. During my presidency, I will strive to employ the civility I observed from Oliver. I encourage early career lawyers to do just that—watch and learn from more experienced lawyers. Kevin Spitler declared that “the third face of civility is the hard part -- when lawyers show deep respect for their opponents while in the very act of disagreeing with them and vigorously presenting their side of the argument.” Kevin also spoke of the importance of lawyers “extend[ing] our civility to our clients” noting that clients “often experience anxiety and uncertainty, that can lead to frustration and anger [and that lawyers’] polite demeanor can tamp down that anger.” In June of this year, in an address to the New York State Bar Association House of Delegates in Cooperstown, Richard Lewis, the President of the New York State Bar Association, discussed the importance of being civil both within and outside of the practice of law. President Lewis alluded to the divisiveness that pervades society today saying that perhaps it is most important to listen to people with whom we disagree. He called on us as lawyers to lead the way in restoring civility to the public discourse saying in a later conversation that lawyers may be the last bastion of civility in society. Like President Lewis, Kevin too observed an increase in the “divisiveness existing today [where] people seem drawn into factions and are unable to understand or appreciate other people’s points of view.” Kevin also aptly noted that being civil is “not hard”, and that it “feels good”, and that it can have “far-reaching impacts . . . out into the greater community.” In summary, civility is essential to our system of justice and the integrity of the legal profession. As lawyers we should not only be civil within our profession—which I think we do a pretty good job at—but we should strive to spread civility beyond our profession. Perhaps we start by consciously trying to be more tolerant of views that we disagree with and listen more carefully to those espousing those views. We should also be more conscious of how we express our disagreement, going the extra step to disagree without being disrespectful. I believe we can do this while still advocating for what we believe to be right and just and without compromising our principles. We should also use our knowledge of the law to explain why things may have played out the way they did and, at the same time, defend our system of jurisprudence. Opportunity to do this is abundant. As lawyers we are so often used as a sounding board by non- lawyers as to anything legal such as why a court decided a case the way it did or why someone was indicted, convicted, acquitted, elected, silenced, or amplified. We should use one of these occasions to practice being civil and to listen and, if it calls for it, to respectfully disagree and to educate and defend our system of justice. Indeed, although imperfect, it deserves defending. Let’s do our part.
TIMOTHY J. GRABER President Bar Association of Erie County
The legal profession’s attention to civility within the profession is longstanding and significant. Contemporaneous examples include the Standards of Civility and the Civility Principles. The Standards of Civility were adopted by the New York State Unified Court System in 1997 and amended in January of 2020. The Civility Principles were adopted by the United States District Court for the Western District of New York in September of 1998 and amended in 2018. Notably, the Civility Principles are a part of the Western District’s Admission Forms Package. Both the Standards of Civility and the Civility Principles are seminal, well drafted must-reads on the topic of being civil. Thankfully, these pronouncements have taken root and are embraced by lawyers in Western New York, and we are truly fortunate to practice in a legal community where civility is by far the norm and not the exception. This message was driven home by Kevin Spitler, a past President of this Bar Association, who spoke at the Law Day Luncheon in May of this year. Kevin spoke from the heart about what it means to be civil and provided numerous examples of things that lawyers can do—both small and large—to practice civility. Kevin noted that lawyers in Erie County “are polite, considerate and respectful. They treat each other, their clients, and their support staff, with kindness and courtesy. They practice civility every day, numerous times during the day.” In his remarks, Kevin described three “faces” of civility. The first being the “easy side of civility. It is the human nature side of civility” and includes simply being polite and courteous to one another. Kevin pointed to the courtroom for the second face of civility noting that the “courtroom requires a more serious side of civility” and that “in the courtroom politeness, good manners and courtesy are expected.” This is true. Both the Civility Principles and the Standards of Civility demonstrate as much. Kevin asserted that one of the reasons he is proud of lawyers in this area is that “we have learned to practice with civility and mutual respect, even while we understand that the very nature of our work is adversarial.” Observing that lawyers learn to practice with civility hits home with me as I recall early in my career learning from more experienced lawyers how to be a zealous advocate and civil at the same time. The Divisiveness of the Day Makes Us Long for Civility
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