When you start out reading this story, it cleaves to the age old complaint:  Lawyers are less polite, and more business oriented than in the past.  It’s no longer a profession, its a business.  The shocker comes at the end of this particular story:  biglaw litigating lawyer calls Federal Judge anti-catholic !

"Manhattan federal judge has delivered a lengthy manifesto against declining civility in the legal profession in the course of sanctioning law firm Dorsey & Whitney and two of its partners.

Southern District Judge Harold Baer opened his 129-page decision with a discussion of how "naked competition and singular economic focus of the marketplace have begun to infiltrate the practice of law, subordinating the high standards of service, collegiality and professionalism as a result."
"But the lawyer targeted by the judge struck back hard.

"It is hard to take seriously Judge Baer’s alleged concern for professional courtesy when he continues to treat women litigators like second class citizens in his court room, requires attorneys to physically oversee the return of documents in another country within a matter of hours when they are overseas on their anniversary, and sets depositions on Sunday mornings," said Ms. Peters in an e-mail.

"Indeed, when a Catholic lawyer asks for the opportunity to attend church before the Sunday deposition, he mocked the attorney for Catholic observance," she said. "