New California lawyers will soon have to swear to be courteous and dignified under a change in the legal oath approved by the California Supreme Court, it was announced Thursday. 
 
 As of May 23, the oath required of lawyers admitted to the California bar will include a so-called civility pledge. The court adopted it at the urging of the American Board of Trial Advocates, which has pushed for the change nationwide, and the State Bar of California. 
 
 New lawyers previously have been required to say this oath: “I solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of California, and that I will faithfully discharge the duties of an attorney and counselor at law to the best of my knowledge and ability.” 
 
 In the future, lawyers will have to make one more promise: “As an officer of the court, I will strive to conduct myself at all times with dignity, courtesy, and integrity.” 
 
 Douglas DeGrave, a former president of the California Chapters of the American Board of Trial Advocates, called the revision a “historic moment for the legal community.” 
 
 “As professionals, we have an obligation to conduct ourselves with dignity, courtesy, and integrity,” DeGrave said in a statement released by the court. “Many have forgotten these very principles to which we, as professionals, should always adhere.” 
 
 Patrick Kelly, former president of the state bar, said the promise to be civil would remind lawyers to adhere to principles of professionalism, particularly in their dealings with clients, other attorneys and judges. 
 
 Mark Robinson Jr., president of the American Board of Trial Advocates and a member of California’s Judicial Council, which sets policy for state courts, called the added language "a great thing for justice here in California." 
 
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 maura.dolan@latimes.com ||||| California’s 250,000 lawyers joined the bar by taking an oath to support the Constitution and do their best to “faithfully discharge the duties of an attorney.” Starting May 23, new lawyers will have to additionally swear to conduct themselves with “dignity, courtesy and integrity.” 
 
 The so-called civility oath was approved Thursday by the California Supreme Court at the request of former State Bar President Patrick Kelly. As he was winding up his one-year term last October, the Los Angeles attorney said he was pushing for the new language based on his observation, after 45 years of practice, that too many lawyers aren’t treating each other as well as they used to. 
 
 More than in the past, Kelly said, lawyers shout and swear at one another, make personal attacks in court filings, reject their adversaries’ routine requests to extend deadlines and adjust schedules, and even try to intimidate judges. 
 
 Maybe some of that behavior would change, he said, if newly enrolled attorneys took a pledge of civility. It would at least remind them, Kelly said, that there’s more to being a lawyer than winning cases and billing clients. A lawyers’ association, the American Board of Trial Advocates, is campaigning to get other states to adopt the same language. 
 
 Cynics among the public will probably compare the new oath to extracting a vow of gentility from a shark, and some specialists in legal ethics doubt that it will deter any uncivil behavior. On the other side, some have expressed concern that the State Bar would start disciplining lawyers for failing to act with “dignity” or “courtesy,” terms that are subject to a wide range of definitions. 
 
 But both Kelly and a spokesman for the state’s high court said the civility oath was a general admonition that would not be a basis for discipline — unlike, say, lying or stealing, which can get a lawyer disbarred. 
 
 “It’s a reminder of positive professional behavior, rather than a stick,” said the court spokesman, Cathal Conneely.
– All new lawyers in California will soon have to make an added promise when joining the bar—to be nice to one another, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. Beginning May 23, the oath one takes to "faithfully discharge the duties of an attorney" will be joined by language stating the lawyer "will strive to conduct myself at all times with dignity, courtesy, and integrity." The added language was OKed Thursday by the California Supreme Court at the urging of a former state bar president, who over his 45 years in the industry has found lawyers' bad behavior—swearing at peers, attacking each other in court filings, and bullying judges—on the rise. The civility oath will remind lawyers that the profession isn't just about winning cases, says Patrick Kelly. But as there's no penalty for breaking said promise, legal ethics experts wonder if it will deter such conduct at all. "It’s a reminder of positive professional behavior, rather than a stick," says a court rep. The pledge may not be unique to California for long. The American Board of Trial Advocates is campaigning to take the oath nationwide, the Los Angeles Times reports.