Articles

General

• Amar, Vikram D. & Robbennolt, Jennifer K., “The Role of Lawyers and Law Schools in Fostering Civil Public Debate,” 52 Conn. L. Rev. 1093 (2021).
  Highlights the lawyer’s role in upholding civility amid partisan polarization, advocating for law school education that emphasizes conflict resolution skills and values essential for productive public discourse.
• Bahadur, Rory, “Civility as Morally Justified Oppression,” 30 Tex. J. C. L. & C. R. 89 (Fall 2024).
  Argues that civility as a norm in professional identity information maintains oppressive systemic biases by only focusing on individual behavior.
• Borda, J.L. & Heath, R., “Reclaiming Civility: Towards Discursive Opening in Dialogue and Deliberation,” 17(1) J. Deliberative Democracy 9–18 (2021).
  Suggests redefining civility to encourage productive disagreement through intentional dialogue design, advocating for conflict engagement rather than suppression.
• Floyd, Timothy W., “Lawyers and Civil Discourse: Respect and Civility as a Matter of Professional Identity,” 76 Baylor L. Rev. 90 (2024).
  Comments on the importance of professional identity formation in law school and why civility is a core professional value, especially at a time of increasing uncivil public behavior.
• Gallant, Kenneth S., “No Paradise to Regain: Comments on Russell G. Pearce and Eli Ward, the Obligation of Lawyers to Heal Civic Culture: Confronting the Ordeal of Incivility in the Practice of Law,” 34 U. Ark. Little Rock L. Rev. 113 (Fall 2011).
  Responds to Pearce and Ward’s article, critiquing its definition of civility and defending how incivility can be a necessary part of legal practice.
• Gassman, Gary L., Olivera, Elizabeth & Kraft, Michael J., “Defining Civility as an Attorney,” 55 Tort Trial & Ins. Prac. L.J. 557 (Fall 2020).
  Discusses what constitutes civility in legal practice, examples of civil and uncivil behavior, and sanctions for uncivil conduct. Includes earlier version in Brief, Fall 2019 at 34.
• Goldridge, Leah, “Professionalism as a Racial Construct,” 69 UCLA L. Rev. Disc. 38 (2022).
  Explores how conventional professionalism norms can encode racial bias, highlighting ways these norms may reinforce inequality.
• Grenardo, David A., “Civility Rules: Debunking the Major Myths Surrounding Mandatory Civility for Lawyers and Five Mandatory Civility Rules That Will Work,” 37 Geo. J. Legal Ethics 167 (Spring 2024).
  Proposes five mandatory civility rules and responds to common critiques and myths surrounding civility.
• Grenardo, David A., “Making Civility Mandatory: Moving from Aspired to Required,” 11 Cardozo Pub. L. Pol’y & Ethics J. 239 (Spring 2013).
  Argues for mandatory civility requirements and addresses arguments against such requirements.
• Guinn, Trey, “Preparing for Tough Conversations: How to Set the Stage for Major Change on Your Campus,” Chronicle of Higher Education 30 (2021).
  Outlines steps to prepare stakeholders for challenging campus conversations, with a focus on trust-building and intentional dialogue design.
• Kelso, Kari C. & Kelso, J. Clark, “Civic Education and Civil Discourse: A Role for Courts, Judges, and Lawyers,” 21 J. App. Prac. & Process 473 (2021).
  Argues that the legal profession and education at all levels should promote civics education and civil discourse. See Part II (p. 485) for focus on civil discourse.
• Massaro, Tony M. and Stryker, Robin, “Freedom of Speech, Liberal Democracy, and Emerging Evidence on Civility and Effective Democratic Engagement,” 54 Ariz. L. Rev. 375 (2012).
  Analyzes and responds to some of the concerns about calls for civility.
• Mashburn, Amy R., “Professionalism as Class Ideology: Civility Codes and Bar Hierarchy,” 28 Val. U. L. Rev. 657 (Winter 1994).
  Critiques civility codes as classist and reactionary, disproportionately affecting a diversifying profession while failing to address deeper structural issues.
• Menkel-Meadow, Carrie, “Why We Can’t ‘Just All Get Along’: Dysfunction in the Polity and Conflict Resolution and What We Might Do About It,” 2018 J. of Disp. Resol. 5 (2018).
  Offers ideas how to constructively address the polarizing division in our country, in order to deal with challenging policy issues like poverty, health care, and education.
• O’Connor, Sandra Day, “Professionalism,” 76 Wash. U. L. Q. 5 (1998).
  Advocates for teaching the importance of civility and professionalism in dedication remarks from then-Justice O’Connor.
• Papandrea, Mary-Rose, “Law Schools, Professionalism, and the First Amendment,” 76 Stan. L. Rev. 1609 (July 2024).
  Considers how law schools can teach professionalism and civility while maintaining academic freedom and free speech principles.
• Pearce, Russell G. & Wald, Eli, “Obligation of Lawyers to Heal Civil Culture: Confronting the Ordeal of Incivility in the Practice of Law,” 34 U. Ark. Little Rock L. Rev. 1 (Fall 2011).
  Discusses lawyers as civic educators and advocates for a self-interest perspective that includes social good, to counter the detrimental effects of the hired-gun mentality and improve civility.
• Rappaport, Nancy, “Training Law Students to Maintain Civility in Their Law Practices as a Way to Improve Public Discourse,” 98 N.C. L. Rev. 1143 (2020).
  Urges integrating civility training into curricula to counter group polarization and attribution biases; includes an appendix compiling civility rules from multiple jurisdictions.
• Robbennolt, Jennifer, “Political Polarization: Psychological Explanations and Potential Solutions,” 23 Nev. L.J. 323 (2023).
  Synthesizes psychological research on polarization and incivility and suggests evidence-based strategies for more constructive conversations.
• Serwer, Adam, “Civility is Overrated,” The Atlantic December 2019.
  Focuses on how a regard for a more civil past disregards the cost of such civility by ignoring the rights and dignity of disenfranchised people.
• Setty, Sudha, “Free Speech and Civility in Law Schools,” 76 Baylor L. Rev. 107 (2024).
  Discusses the value of free speech in law schools, the importance of civility as a legal profession core value, and the difficulty of leadership in polarized climates.
• Teague, Leah, “Civility Matters: Why Law Schools Must Teach Students to Disagree without Being Disagreeable Power of Speech: Creating Environments in Which Free Speech and Civil Discourse Thrive,” 76 Baylor L. Rev 1 (2024).
  Posits that civility is a cornerstone of the legal profession, and discusses its history, practice, and necessity as a topic of instruction in law school.
• Webb, Derek A., “The Original Meaning of Civility: Democratic Deliberation at the Philadelphia Constitutional Convention”, 64 S. C. L. Rev. 183 (2012).
  Assesses the role of civility during the constitutional convention.
• Welsh, Nancy A., Introduction to Symposium on “ADR’s Place in Navigating a Polarized Era,” 35 Ohio St. on Disp. Resol. 581 (2020).
  Focuses on the need to think beyond conflict resolution to conflict engagement as the nation’s development and progress is built on the friction that leads to debate, dialogue, and creative solutions.

Classroom & Building Skills

• DeTemple, Jill, “The Spaces We Make: Dialogic Classrooms and Social Transformation,” 35 Ohio St. J. on Disp. Resol. 753 (2020).
  Presents research showing that structured dialogic classrooms enhance engagement and openness to diverse perspectives, preparing students to handle polarized conversations constructively.
• Dreger, Alice, “This Game-changing AI tools Helps Students Learn Constructive Disagreement,” Heterodox Academy Substack (2025).
  The AI-facilitated chat platform helps students engage in robust and respectful communication on difficult topics.
• Grenardo, David, “A Lesson in Civility,” 32 Geo. J. Legal Ethics 135 (2019).
  Offers practical exercises and simulations focused on civility that can be incorporated into Professional Responsibility courses.
• Grollman, E.A., “Navigating Difficult Dialogue in the Classroom.”
  Provides strategies to manage emotionally charged classroom discussions, emphasizing empathy, active listening, and inclusive participation.
• Jacobowitz, Jan L. & Scott Rogers, “Mindful Ethics – A Pedagogical and Practical Approach to Teaching Legal Ethics, Developing Professional Identity, and Encouraging Civility,” 4 St. Mary’s J. on Legal Malpractice & Ethics 198 (2014).
  Provides guidelines for the teaching of legal ethics including civility.
• Lum, Grande, “How the Law School Negotiation Course Can Help with Polarized Times,” in Theories of Change for the Dispute Resolution Movement: Actionable Ideas to Revitalize Our Movement (2020).
  Discusses how negotiation pedagogy can address polarization and foster constructive dialogue in law schools.
• Rappaport, Nancy, “Training Law Students to Model Civility When Social Media Makes Civility Harder to Maintain,” U. Pitt. L. Rev. (forthcoming).
  Explores how online hostility challenges civility and proposes strategies to train students to uphold professional standards consistent with recent ABA guidance.
• Rigertas, Laurel, “Demonstrating Civility: A Law School Learning Outcome,” Ky. L.J. (forthcoming).
  Frames civility as a core learning outcome; surveys definitional issues, psychological research on incivility, and schools adopting civility standards.
• Sue, D.W., “Facilitating Difficult Race Discussions: Five Ineffective Strategies and Five Successful Strategies.”
  Identifies common pitfalls in race-related discussions and offers evidence-based practices to foster meaningful, respectful, and impactful dialogue.
• Surber, Eric, “Teaching Civility through Civics,” 107 Judicature 9 (2024).
  Discusses the Civil Discourse and Difficult Decisions program materials from uscourts.gov, and how to adapt them for courses and jurisdictions.

Books

• Bordone, Robert Conflict Resilience: Negotiating Disagreement Without Giving Up or Giving In (2025).
  Serves as a guidebook to bring people together, and an invitation to radically transform how we interact with our friends and families, our coworkers, our students, and our neighbors.
• Brown, Brené, Dare to Lead: Brave Work. Tough Conversations. Whole Hearts (2018).
  Offers strategies for fostering courage and vulnerability in leadership, including tools for engaging in difficult conversations with empathy and clarity.
• Fierberg, James H., A Civility-Based Model For New Lawyers: Understanding Your Moral Compass, Interpersonal Skills, and Ethical Inventory before Practicing Law (2022).
  Emphasizes the importance of behavioral norms and interpersonal skills for new lawyers.
• Goens, George A., Civility Lost: The Media, Politics, and Education (2019).
  Explores how to approach differences civilly to find solutions and the vital role of civility in self-government.
• Keith, William & Danisch, Robert, Beyond Civility: The Competing Obligations of Citizenship (2020).
  Examines how civility can silence the disenfranchised, distinguishing civil discourse from politeness.
• Longan, Patrick Emery, Daisy Hurst Floyd & Timothy W. Floyd, The Formation of Professional Identity: The Path from Student to Lawyer (2d ed. 2024).
  Discusses six virtues critical to a lawyer’s professional identity, including the virtue of civility.
• Longo, Nicholas V. & Shaffer, Timothy J., eds., Creating Space for Democracy: A Primer on Dialogue and Deliberation in Higher Education (2019).
  This resource supports the incorporation of dialogue and deliberation in higher education.
• Patterson, Kerry, Joseph Grenny, Ron McMillan & Al Switzler, Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When the Stakes are High (2d ed. 2011).
  Provides a step-by-step framework for handling high-stakes conversations to achieve mutual understanding and productive outcomes.
• Rosenberg, Marshall, Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Life (3rd ed. 2015).
  Presents a communication method focused on empathy, active listening, and needs-based dialogue to foster connection and resolve conflict.
• Sarat, Austin, ed., Civility, Legality, and Justice in America (2014).
  Brings together scholarship on the role and impact of civility—and incivility—in society’s perception and execution of justice.
• Singer, Joseph William, Persuasion: Getting to the Other Side (2020).
  Provides a toolkit for law students to engage in reasoned arguments about what the law should be, beginning with why civil discourse matters.
• Stone, Douglas, Bruce Patton & Sheila Heen, Difficult Conversations: How to Discuss What Matters Most (2010).
  Guides readers through the process of engaging in tough conversations by separating intention from impact and fostering mutual understanding.
• University of Alaska, Anchorage and Alaska Pacific University, Start Talking: A Handbook for Engaging Difficult Dialogues in Higher Education (2008).
  Offers practical tools and case studies to help educators facilitate constructive dialogue on sensitive or controversial topics in academic settings.
• Zamallin, Alex, Against Civility: The Hidden Racism in our Obsession with Civility (2021).
  Examines how civility has been used to silence voices, decrease political participation, and justify violence.