Welcome

In an era too often marked by acts of incivility, Robert’s Fund aims to elevate the way we treat one another in the legal profession and to inspire acts of courtesy, kindness, and compassion among members of the profession. Through consulting, community outreach, and continuing education programs, this family foundation works to promote civility. Learn more about our recent programs

Continuing Legal Education

Why Focus on the Legal Profession?

Our initiatives focus on increasing civility within the legal profession. Lawyers influence society. Those who serve as judges and politicians create and administer our laws and shape societal values. Others play vital roles in private industry. Even when they are not in leadership positions, lawyers are often the ones who negotiate and set policy for businesses and other organizations. Lawyers also work with individual clients to foster commerce and prevent conflict in transactional practices, resolve conflict in litigation, or counsel those in legal distress. Lawyers often serve as leaders and role models in their communities, either in their capacity as lawyers or simply as concerned citizens.

Civility means treating people with respect, compassion and integrity. It benefits business by creating satisfied clients and reducing costs. It benefits the practitioner by reducing stress and promoting healthy relationships. And civility promotes justice by de-escalating conflict and inspiring pro bono service.We behave civilly by actively listening to others, by understanding our own biases and assumptions, and by treating others as we would like to be treated. In order to understand our inherent biases, we need to engage in difficult but necessary conversations about race, gender, otherness, and values. It calls upon us to advocate effectively without losing our humanity. It calls upon us to find the right mechanism to resolve a particular problem. Finally, we behave civilly when we commit ourselves to a cause and challenge ourselves to make a contribution to our world.

Civility Promise CLEs for Legal Professionals

Robert’s Fund collaborates with Seattle University School of Law to offer these intensive seminars. All of our programs seek to engage the whole person in a relaxed, cocreative environment where participants can truly discover greater civility in their lives.They are designed to enable participants to immerse themselves in a continuing education program that integrates lectures, discussions, and interactive exercises that focus on fostering civility in the legal profession. What began as a simple series has blossomed into a year-round offering of programs on civility, specifically tailored for lawyers and other law professionals.Robert's Fund offers CLE seminars in a short, intensive format throughout Washington, as well as retreat-like programs in beautiful Sovana, Italy.