Making Civility Mandatory: Moving from Aspired to Required

This article examines what civility is, its importance, and the problem of incivility. The article also discusses the legal profession’s response to incivility thus far, and why this response in most instances falls short. The article also examines the manner in which mandatory civility can be enforced and provides suggestions on the specific rules necessary to enforce it. This article also discusses the arguments against mandatory civility and provides responses to each. This article argues that civility should be mandatory for attorneys, because when a lawyer fails to act with civility, then the public’s confidence in the legal system suffers and legal costs rise, including the costs of litigation