Baby lawyers: if your mentor is a jackass to opposing counsel (or OC's staff) for no good reason, find a new mentor yesterday.

I've had many strenuous disagreements with OC, and have snarked about a claim or two. But I've never found it hard to treat OC like a human being.

You're not generally pitted in a personal battle against opposing counsel. You're each doing a job on behalf of your clients. Sometimes that means telling OC that their claim is shit and you're not backing down. That's different than being a shithead to them on a personal level.

If anything, do it for your future. If opposing counsel respects you, there's a very real likelihood you will get a referral or two from them down the line.

I think maybe one of the complicating conceptual difficulties (separating views on law from the personal) is brought on by social media.

I have snarked at a lawyer and a half on Twitter who I think is full of it and ass-backwards on the law. [cont]

[cont]

But if I were across the representational table from them, it doesn't matter if I've gone ten bloody rounds with them on here. I'm still going to treat them with professional courtesy and respect, even if I think their positions (in the case, even) are horrid.

Scoring an illusory point in a meet-and-confer isn't worth making the profession a less pleasant place to spend one's career.