California may make "civility" an actual duty under the Rules of Professional Conduct

I teach my students to remember the basic duties owed to clients by thinking of bad grades:  "and F, a D and a bunch of Cs."  The first two letters stand for fiduciary duty, diligence.  The bunch of Cs stand for competence, communication, confidentiality, candor, commingling and conflicts.  But I also tell them that there is another C, which is not really covered in the rules of conduct but that is important and that is "civility."

Now comes news that at its meeting on July 20, 2023, the State Bar of California’s Board of Trustees approved a proposal that calls for amendments to the Rules of Professional Conduct to make incivility a basis for discipline. 

It will be interesting to see what comes of it.  Other suggested changes are more symbolic than anything but this one would be substantive and the drafters of the amendments will have to be careful defining civility and managing the connection with offensive but constitutionally protected speech or expressive conduct.

The Legal Profession Blog has more details here.