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Rule 3.2
EXPEDITING LITIGATION
A lawyer shall make reasonable efforts to expedite litigation.
COMMENTS
[1] Dilatory practices bring the administration of justice into disrepute. Although there will be occasions when a lawyer may properly seek a postponement for personal reasons, such as illness or a conflict with an important family engagement, it is not proper for a lawyer to routinely fail to expedite litigation solely for the convenience of the advocates. Nor will a failure to expedite litigation be reasonable if done for the primary purpose of frustrating an opposing party’s attempt to obtain rightful redress or repose. It is not a justification that similar conduct is often tolerated by the bench and bar. The question is whether a reasonable lawyer would regard the course of action as having some substantial purpose other than delay.
[2] Even if a lawyer is justified in seeking to delay a proceeding, the lawyer may not do so by means otherwise prohibited by these rules. See, e.g., RPCs 3.1 and 3.4.
DEFINITIONAL CROSS-REFERENCES
“Reasonable” See RPC 1.0(j)
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