Rule 33.2 - Lawyers' duties to other counsel(1) We will practice our profession with a continuing awareness that our role is to advance the legitimate interests of our clients. In our dealings with others we will not reflect the ill feelings of our clients. We will treat all other counsel, parties and witnesses in a civil and courteous manner, not only in court, but also in all other written and oral communications.(2) We will not, even when called upon by a client to do so, abuse or indulge in offensive conduct directed to other counsel, parties or witnesses. We will abstain from disparaging remarks or acrimony toward other counsel, parties or witnesses. We will treat adverse witnesses and parties with fair consideration.(3) We will not encourage or knowingly authorize any person under our control to engage in conduct that would be improper if we were to engage in such conduct.(4) We will not, absent good cause, attribute bad motives or improper conduct to other counsel or bring the profession into disrepute by unfounded accusations of impropriety.(5) We will not seek court sanctions without first conducting a reasonable investigation and unless fully justified by the circumstances and necessary to protect our client's lawful interests.(6) We will cooperate in the transfer of files, wills, and other documents to another attorney when requested to do so, orally or in writing, by a person authorized to make that request. We will provide reasonable assistance in organizing and explaining items transferred, recognizing that such cooperation assists the client in receiving competent legal representation.(7) We will adhere to all express promises and to agreements with other counsel, whether oral or in writing, and will adhere in good faith to all agreements implied by the circumstances or local customs.(8) We will promptly acknowledge the receipt of contacts from other attorneys, whether those contacts are by telephone or in writing, and we will make an appropriate response to the subject matter of the contact as soon as reasonably possible. (9) When we reach an oral understanding on a proposed agreement or a stipulation and decide to commit it to writing, the drafter will endeavor in good faith to state the oral understanding accurately and completely. The drafter will provide the opportunity for review of the writing to other counsel. As drafts are exchanged between or among counsel, changes from prior drafts will be identified in the draft or otherwise explicitly brought to the attention of other counsel. We will not include in a draft matters to which there has been no agreement without explicitly advising other counsel in writing of the addition.(10) We will endeavor to confer early with other counsel to assess settlement possibilities. We will not falsely hold out the possibility of settlement as a means to adjourn discovery or to delay trial.(11) In civil actions, we will stipulate to relevant matters if they are undisputed and if no good faith advocacy basis exists for not stipulating.(12) We will not use any form of discovery or discovery scheduling as a means of harassment.(13) We will make good faith efforts to resolve by agreement our objections to matters contained in pleadings and discovery requests and objections.(14) We will not time the filing or service of motions or pleadings in any way that unfairly limits another party's opportunity to respond.(15) We will not request an extension of time solely for the purpose of unjustified delay or to obtain a tactical advantage.(16) We will consult other counsel regarding scheduling matters in a good faith effort to avoid scheduling conflicts.(17) We will endeavor to accommodate previously scheduled dates for hearings, depositions, meetings, conferences, vacations, seminars or other functions that produce good faith calendar conflicts on the part of other counsel. If we have been given an accommodation because of a calendar conflict, we will notify those who have accommodated us as soon as the conflict has been removed.(18) We will notify other counsel and, if appropriate, the court or other persons, at the earliest possible time when hearings, depositions, meetings or conferences are to be canceled or postponed. Early notice avoids unnecessary travel and expense of counsel and may enable the court to use the previously reserved time for other matters.(19) We will agree to reasonable requests for extensions of time and for waiver of procedural formalities, provided our clients' legitimate rights will not be materially or adversely affected.(20) We will not cause any default or dismissal to be entered without first notifying opposing counsel, when we know the opposing counsel's identity.(21) We will take depositions only when actually needed to ascertain facts or information or to perpetuate testimony. We will not take depositions for the purposes of harassment or to increase litigation expenses.(22) We will not engage in any conduct during a deposition that would not be appropriate in the presence of a judge.(23) We will not obstruct questioning during a deposition or object to deposition questions unless necessary under the applicable rules to preserve an objection or privilege for resolution by the court.(24) During depositions we will ask only those questions we reasonably believe are necessary for the prosecution or defense of an action.(25) We will carefully craft document production requests so they are limited to those documents we reasonably believe are necessary for the prosecution or defense of an action. We will not design production requests to place an undue burden or expense on a party.(26) We will respond to document requests reasonably and not strain to interpret the request in an artificially restrictive manner to avoid disclosure of relevant and nonprivileged documents. We will not produce documents in a manner designed to hide or obscure the existence of particular documents.(27) We will carefully craft interrogatories so they are limited to those matters we reasonably believe are necessary for the prosecution or defense of an action, and we will not design them to place an undue burden or expense on a party.(28) We will respond to interrogatories reasonably and will not strain to interpret them in an artificially restrictive manner to avoid disclosure of relevant and nonprivileged information.(29) We will base our discovery objections on a good faith belief in their merit and will not object solely for the purpose of withholding or delaying the disclosure of relevant information.(30) When a draft order is to be prepared by counsel to reflect a court ruling, we will draft an order that accurately and completely reflects the court's ruling. We will promptly prepare and submit a proposed order to other counsel and attempt to reconcile any differences before the draft order is presented to the court.(31) We will not ascribe a position to another counsel that counsel has not taken or otherwise seek to create an unjustified inference based on counsel's statements or conduct.(32) Unless specifically permitted or invited by the court, we will not send copies of correspondence between counsel to the court.Court Order November 9, 2001, effective 2/15/2002.