Page 8 - JanuaryFebruary26 Report

Civility in Action in Action
By Terry Coates
Recently, the Cincinnati Bar Association hosted
a civility symposium including three 2-hour
CLE sessions to promote civility training for
groups who are typically opposing parties in legal
matters. We started with the Hamilton County Pros-
ecutor’s Office and the Hamilton County Public
Defender’s Office as participants. It’s not because these
two groups lack civility or had a history of failing to
cohesively work together, but because they are often
on opposite sides of the fence and because Prosecutor
Connie Pillich and Public Defender Ray Faller agreed
to having their respective offices participate. The
purpose of this civility training is to try to understand
the perspective of your counterpart in order to gain
respect for their position while also understanding
that we all come from unique backgrounds that help
inform our perspective.
Our first session in October started with words
of encouragement from Hamilton County Court of
Common Pleas Judge Wende Cross and Ohio Supreme
Court Justice Pat Fischer and included 20 participants.
The civility discussions are being guided by local
attorney, Sherri Goren Slovin, who for many years
convened the Beyond Civility events in Cincinnati.
Our final 2-hour session for this inaugural program
was in December.
We have been very pleased with the participa-
tion in the program and are sincerely thankful for
the Prosecutor and Public Defender Offices’ engage-
ment. The CBA will be evaluating whether to continue
this program next year and welcomes CBA member
8 | january/february 2026 cba report
recommendations for other potential groups within
the CBA to participate in additional civility training.
Please email me (tcoates@msdlegal.com) or call
me (513) 665-0204 with any recommendations for
future civility training participants. We are thankful
that the Cincinnati legal community has a generally
collegial bar, but there is still work to be done and we
look forward to putting in the work.
Beyond formal training programs, civility also
requires daily practice in our interactions with
opposing counsel. Based on my litigation experience,
here are a few practical approaches that have proven
effective.
Civility in Practice
Over the past few years, I’ve handled hearings
in many state and federal courts including: Ohio,
Kentucky, Illinois, Wisconsin, New Jersey, New York,
Massachusetts, Virginia, Maryland, North Caro-
lina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Louisiana,
Colorado, Montana, Minnesota, Texas, Arizona,
and California. I’ve also participated in over 100
class action mediations during this time. I give this
background to illustrate my experience with many
different attorneys and judges from many jurisdic-
tions. Please note I don’t have the practice of law or
life figured out and still learn and make mistakes
every day. I have, though, pulled a few important
practice pointers from these diverse interactions
that help promote civility and productive working
relationships with opposing attorneys. Here are