Page 41 - FDCC Flyer Summer 2021

FDCC News
Johnson L. “Johnny” Sarber, III Carr Allison Jacksonville, FL
The Federation is proud to announce a new initiative called “FedCivility.” While professionalism
and ethics credits have been offered abundantly
FEDCIVILITY
Our profession has seen
a marked decline in professionalism and civility over the past few years, and it seems to have gotten worse during the COVID pandemic.
that law schools have failed to temper that competition with education about appropriate behaviors. We recognized that state bar associations and other lawyer groups have tried but have often not succeeded in dealing with the decline of civility. We discussed that not only do our own moral and ethical callings require us to act with civility, but so too do judges and our clients.
While we must be prepared to be aggressive and zealous, the best
interests of our clients and our own reputations are best served when we exercise our advocacy with professionalism and civility. It was pointed out that while judges proclaim their expectation of civility, they sometimes also fail
to stop uncivil behavior when it occurs. Our discussion also covered other sources and circumstances of poor behavior, including race and gender bias.
Civility will be a prominent aspect of the Federation’s programming from this point forward. We will lead through regular written and visual offerings on our website and at upcoming convention presentations. One of our subcommittees will prepare both online and live presentations for law schools.
In addition to partnering with the Federal Judges Association, we will seek ways to coordinate with state bar associations and other legal organizations. If you are interested in being part of FedCivility, please contact Johnny Sarber, Chair of the FedCivilty Committee at jsarber@carrallison.com.
through the years in a variety of formats, what is often missing in these presentations is practical instruction to reverse the erosion of civility. Our profession has seen a marked decline in professionalism and civility over the past few years, and it seems to have gotten worse during the COVID pandemic. Recognizing that there is no real leader in our profession addressing this problem, the FDCC has decided to step into the gap and take ownership of this topic, and thus was born the FedCivility Committee.
Once the Committee was formed, we set out exploring how to most effectively address the problem. We were honored that our first official opportunity was to sponsor the keynote address at the 2020 virtual Corporate Counsel Symposium
by Judge Cynthia Rufe, of the US District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and Chair of the Federal Judges Association.
Early in our planning discussions we also identified that the problem starts in law schools, where sharp competitiveness is fostered, and
Johnny Sarber is Chair of the FedCivility Committee, and an FDCC Defense Counsel Member at Carr Allison in Jacksonville, FL. Contact him at jsarber@carrallison.com.
www.thefederation.org summer | federation flyer 39