As 3Ls graduate and prepare to engage in the practice of law, we want to leave them with a few practice tips. While some of these may appear to be common sense, our experience with attorneys who have done all of the below indicate that it may prove helpful to spell these out.

First, don't be unnecessarily difficult or rude when dealing with your adversary. Professional courtesy goes a long way. If your adversary is seeking your consent in requesting from the court an extension of the deadline for filing his or her brief, grant it if it will not preju­dice your client. Somewhere down the line, you may need an extension yourself and your unreasonableness toward your adversary may come back to bite you.

Second, in your discovery battles with your adversary, do not be unreasonable in your responses to your adversary's discovery requests. If you are unreasonable about providing discovery that is clearly relevant, your adversary may resort to moving to compel discovery responses or document production. If you are unreasonable, your adversary will prevail in the motion to compel, invariably wasting your time in motion practice and potentially annoying the judge deciding the motion.