Viewpoints on civility
Terry A. Fox
Patrick A. Salvi II
We sought a variety of perspectives on professional behavior — and found a lot of agreement. Terry A. Fox of the Illinois Defense Counsel, Patrick A. Salvi II of the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association and Stephanie Villinski of the Illi- nois Commission on Professionalism contemplated our ques- tions on what’s going right — and wrong — with how attorneys act. — Chicago Daily Law Bulletin staff
Stephanie Villinski
Is incivility trending up or down in your experience, and why?
Fox: I think incivility peaked during the COVID-19 pandemic due to lack of in-person communication. I find people are getting slightly more civil as we re- turn to more in-person advocacy — ex- cept in Cook County, where the state court judges apparently are refusing to return to in-person hearings.
Salvi: As an eternal optimist, I want to say incivility is trending down. However, lawyers should always strive to counsel their clients to allow for civility, both in terms of cordiality and (more impor - tantly) how we approach cases. When a lawyer is polite but takes highly unrea- sonable positions in a way that unneces- sarily prolongs litigation on issues other than the legal and factual merits, that is not civility. We can be zealous advo- cates and civil at the same time.
16 LAW DAY 2023 • CHICAGO DAILY LAW BULLETIN
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