Spontaneous oral expletive or vituperative comment need not survive in written communication. One's time in life, let alone in professional practice, is too short and possibly too fleeting to seek momentary advantage by willful acts of discourtesy to today's adversary. Even if successfully planned and artfully achieved, the rewards thus gained likely will not be lasting and certainly would not be sweet. A Lawyer Should Always Be Punctual. The failure of a lawyer to arrive on time inconveniences judges, other lawyers, jurors and other participants and disrupts schedules.
Time is a precious commodity in the practice of law.
A lawyer should respect the commitments of others by arriving on time and should timely notify all other participants when, for a reason beyond control, the lawyer will be unavoidably late. Moreover, when a lawyer is aware that a witness will be late for a scheduled event, the other participants should be timely notified. A Lawyer Should Seek Informal Agreement on Procedural and Preliminary Matters. When an adversary is entitled to something, such as information or documents in discovery, normally it should be provided without resort to formal procedural mechanisms such as motions, briefs, hearings, or orders. Facts which are not in dispute should be stipulated in writing to avoid the time, expense and effort required to establish those facts by formal proof.