Stewart Whitford Olive

Stewart Olive

In response to the review, a great deal of a lawyer’s duties in civil litigation is to manage a case on a client’s behalf within the parameters of the law, the Rules of Civil Procedure, the Rules of Evidence, and the Court’s orders and rulings. It sometimes happens that clients have requests that simply have no legal basis, cannot be successfully introduced into evidence, would be rejected by the Court if presented, and/or could prejudice the case against the client. The lawyer has the unhappy job of trying to explain that to the client while at the same time putting forward the client’s best evidence and legal argument possible given the applicable facts and law. As to the attorneys and the judge “joking” with one another, civility is the basis of the legal system. Attorneys are required to be respectful to the Judge and each other while at the same time representing the respective interests of clients before the Court. While being unduly confrontational may appear to some as being forceful and beneficial on behalf of a client, it usually has the opposite effect, diminishing the attorney’s and the client’s credibility and standing with the Judge and the other participants. I invite the anonymous reviewer to contact me directly so we can discuss their concerns at length.