Attorneys who appear in civil and criminal cases in this court shall comply with the following standards of practice in this district:4

(a) In fulfilling his or her primary duty to the client, a lawyer must be ever conscious of the broader duty to the judicial system that serves both attorney and client.

(b) A lawyer owes candor, diligence, and utmost respect to the judiciary.

(c) A lawyer owes, to opposing counsel, a duty of courtesy and cooperation, the observance of which is necessary for the efficient administration of our system of justice and the respect of the public it serves.

(d) A lawyer unquestionably owes, to the administration of justice, the fundamental duties of personal dignity and professional integrity.

(e) Lawyers should treat each other, the opposing party, the court, and court staff with courtesy and civility and conduct themselves in a professional manner at all times.

(f) A client has no right to demand that counsel abuse the opposite party or indulge in offensive conduct. A lawyer shall always treat adverse witnesses and suitors with fairness and due consideration.

(g) In adversary proceedings, clients are litigants and though ill feeling may exist between clients, such ill feeling should not influence a lawyer’s conduct, attitude, or demeanor toward opposing lawyers.

(h) A lawyer should not use any form of discovery or the scheduling of discovery as a means of harassing opposing counsel or counsel’s client.

(i) Lawyers will be punctual in communications with others and in honoring scheduled appearances and will recognize that neglect and tardiness are demeaning to the lawyer and to the judicial system.

(j) If a fellow member of the bar makes a just request for cooperation or seeks scheduling accommodation, a lawyer will not arbitrarily or unreasonably withhold consent. The court is not bound to accept agreements of counsel to extend deadlines imposed by rule or court order.

(k) Effective advocacy does not require antagonistic or obnoxious behavior, and members of the bar will adhere to the higher standard of conduct which judges, lawyers, clients, and the public may rightfully expect.

(l) The court also encourages attorneys to be familiar with the Codes of Pretrial and Trial Conduct promulgated by the American College of Trial Lawyers, which can be found on the court’s website, located at txed.uscourts.gov, and to conduct themselves accordingly.

(m) If the lawyer, in the exercise of his or her professional legal judgment, believes that the client is best served by the use of technology (e.g., ChatGPT, Google Bard, Bing AI Chat, or generative artificial intelligence services), then the lawyer is cautioned that certain technologies may produce factually or legally inaccurate content and should never replace the lawyer’s most important asset – the exercise of independent legal judgment. If a lawyer chooses to employ technology in representing a client, the lawyer continues to be bound by the requirements of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11, Local Rule AT-3, and all other applicable standards of practice and must review and verify any computer-generated content to ensure that it complies with all such standards.

4 [1] The standards enumerated here are set forth in the en banc opinion in Dondi Props. Corp. v. Commerce Sav. & Loan Ass’n., 121 F.R.D. 284 (N.D. Tex. 1988).