FAIRNESS AND CIVILITY

All pretrial and trial proceedings in the United States District and Bankruptcy Courts for the District of Idaho, must be free from prejudice and bias towards another on the basis of gender, race, ethnicity, disability, age or sexual orientation. Fair and equal treatment must be accorded all courtroom participants, whether judges, attorneys, witnesses, litigants, jurors, or court personnel. The duty to be respectful of others includes the responsibility to avoid comment or behavior that can reasonably be interpreted as manifesting prejudice or bias toward another.

Civility is the responsibility of every lawyer, judge, and litigant in the federal system. While lawyers have an obligation to represent clients zealously, incivility to counsel, adverse parties, or other participants in the legal process undermines the administration of justice and diminishes respect for both the legal process and our system of justice.

The bar, litigants, and judiciary, in partnership with each other, have a responsibility to promote civility in the practice of law and the administration of justice. The fundamental principles of civility which will be followed in the United States District and Bankruptcy Courts for the District of Idaho, both in the written and spoken word, include the following:

1)  Treating each other in a civil, professional, respectful, and courteous manner at all times.

2)  Not engaging in offensive conduct directed towards others or the legal process.

3)  Not bringing the profession in to disrepute by making unfounded accusations of impropriety.

4)  Making good faith efforts to resolve by agreement any disputes.

5)  Complying with the discovery rules in a timely and courteous manner.

6)  Reporting acts of bias or incivility to the Clerk of Court.

The Clerk of the Court will then determine the appropriate judicial officer with whom to discuss the matter.

RELATED AUTHORITY

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