Court proceedings put a premium on decorum and civil discourse, but the skills and
dispositions that set the stage start long before the attorneys and parties
enter the courtroom. That is why federal judges and attorneys collaborated with
Duke Law School to bring the Judiciary’s
Civil Discourse and Difficult Decisions program to law students for the first time.
“Civility
is a vital skill in the courtroom, the classroom, and the community,” said U.S.
Magistrate Judge Shaniek Mills Maynard, of the Southern District of Florida,
who helped facilitate the recent program. “It is a critical pathway to reaching
consensus and agreement on important issues that have an impact on everyone and
their quality of life.”
During the three-hour program in Durham, North Carolina, students identified and
practiced the civil discourse skills they will need throughout their legal
careers. All of Duke Law School’s roughly 240 first-year students participated
in this interactive exercise with federal judges and attorney volunteers.
“Using
the program for all first-year law students is a strong statement from Duke Law
School that it values civility, and that professionalism is a core component of
the legal profession,” said Judge Robin L. Rosenberg, of the Southern District
of Florida, who presided over the event and helped launch the national
initiative in 2016.
“Duke
Law School is committed to providing our students with active, hands-on
opportunities to practice the professional skills they’ll need as attorneys –
and the ability to engage in civil discourse is one of the most important, no
matter the type of practice or setting,” said Amanda Lacoff, assistant dean for
academic initiatives at Duke Law School. “Participating in the Civil Discourse
and Difficult Decisions program conveyed the ways that maintaining civility,
especially when discussing contentious and weighty topics, will make students
more effective advocates and problem-solvers, now and in the future.”
The
program uses a courtroom simulation to expose students to the practice of
civility and professionalism – as judges, jurors, and lawyers. Judges and
attorneys opened the program by talking about their reasons for pursuing
careers in the law and why civility is a critical legal and life skill, as well
as a professional value and responsibility.
Students
prepared for a courtroom simulation by discussing civility and setting ground
rules for their interactions. Attorneys coached student advocates, who argued a
fictional scenario based on the First Amendment cases Elonis v. U.S. (2015) and
Counterman v. Colorado (2023). The program culminated with deliberations in
which all students engaged in robust and respectful discussions.
“Participating
in the civil discourse program was a really unique and insightful opportunity,”
said Fernanda Yanez, a Duke Law School student who attended the event. “When
thinking of the legal field, people tend to only focus on the adversarial
aspect of it, but what most people don’t realize is just how important it is to
be able to discuss legal issues in an orderly fashion.”
As a
result of the program’s success at Duke, Federal Bar Association members in the
Eastern District of North Carolina plan to host additional programs for high
school students throughout North Carolina.
“This
program is a perfect vehicle to introduce and reinforce civility in the law,”
said Michael McAuliffe, a Florida attorney who helped facilitate the event. “I
hope it proves to be a template used by other law schools.”
Civil
Discourse and Difficult Decisions is a national initiative that is active in
almost every federal circuit across the nation. The program, originally geared
to high school students, has reached thousands of students in middle schools,
high schools, and universities since it was first
launched in the Southern District of Florida. The
Federal Bar Association partners with the federal courts in the
implementation of the program across the country. Interested law schools may
contact the federal courts’ national educational outreach manager,
Rebecca Fanning at the
Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, to find a participating federal
court.