Apr. 3, 2026
Screaming lawyers, silent rules and the long road to civility
California has rolled out a new annual civility oath for its 200,000-plus lawyers and is exploring whether judges should formally cut attorney fees as a sanction for incivility, reflecting decades of frustration with courtroom misconduct dating back to notorious cases like that of former defense attorney Maureen Kallins.
In the annals of lawyers behaving badly, it's hard to match the disruptive courtroom antics of former Larkspur defense attorney Maureen R. Kallins.
A quarter century ago, she clashed with federal and state judges in San Francisco, Oakland and Sacramento. The State Bar twice handed her two-year suspensions. A state appellate panel took a close look at her conduct and devised a rule: A judge may reprimand a lawyer in front of the jury in cases of repeated failure to show an att...
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