Lawyer Professionalism: Practicing Civility, Judgment, and Maintaining Public Trust

About the Course

Introduction

This CLE course will examine how lawyers must meet the profession's expectations for civility, sound judgment, integrity, and service to the administration of justice within everyday practice.

Description

Professionalism affects all aspects of advocacy, negotiation, supervision, and a lawyer's reputation. It is imperative that lawyers exercise professional judgment, retain credibility, and respect the legal process. The panel will discuss how professionalism differs from minimum disciplinary compliance standards and how it guides attorney conduct in interactions with clients, the court, opposing counsel, colleagues, witnesses, and unrepresented parties.

The panel will examine recurring situations where professionalism is challenged, such as clients who request inappropriately aggressive tactics, cases where cooperation breaks down, incivility in communication, and the balance between zealous advocacy and the practitioner's duty to our legal system.

Listen as our panel discusses professionalism within advocacy, negotiation, communications, and team management.

Credit Information

This 90-minute webinar is eligible in most states for 1.5 CLE credits.
An excellent opportunity to earn Ethics CLE credits. Note: BARBRI cannot guarantee that this course will be approved for ethics credits in all states. To confirm, please contact our CLE department at pdservice@barbri.com.
Choose a State

Live Online

On Demand

Date + Time

event
Thursday, July 30, 2026
schedule
1:00 PM ET/10:00 AM PT

I. Foundations of lawyer professionalism

II. Professionalism, civility, and credibility in advocacy and negotiation

III. Client pressure, adversarial conduct, and sound judgment

IV. Professionalism in writing and proceedings

V. Professionalism in supervision, teams, and the workplace

VI. Recurring professionalism challenges

VII. Practitioner takeaways

The panel will explore these and other key areas:

How does professionalism differ from basic ethics compliance, and why does that distinction matter in practice?
Where is the line between zealous advocacy and conduct that undermines civility, credibility, cooperation, or public trust?
How should lawyers respond when others pressure the attorney to pursue exceptionally aggressive or counterproductive tactics?
What professionalism issues arise most often in communications, practice settings, and court proceedings?