Rule #1 For Court: Dress Properly

[ShysterJon]

Hello, boys and girls. Are you enjoying your summer?

Tonight is poker night at the Belo and I'm sitting here shootin the shit with other shysters. A topic came up that I'll share with you because I love you and I don't want you to get in trouble.

DRESS NICELY WHEN YOU GO TO COURT!

That means a coat and tie for the dudes and a nice dress or other conservative attire for the dudettes. Why? Because the judge and prosecutor will treat you more respectfully.

I can't tell you the number of times I've stood in court waiting for my turn with the judge when some peawit is at the bench wearing a baggy sports jersey and ... get this ... gold chains. Imagine what the judge would think, especially if the charge was theft.

Or imagine the defendant shows up wearing a see-through blouse and stands before a female judge. It would be worse if the defendant weren't female.

When I was a young lawyer, back when ol' Abe Lincoln was practicing, I sometimes had to send a client home to change, but no more. Now I always call a client the night before court to instruct them how to dress.

Judges, bailiffs, other court personnel, and even prosecutors, are people, too, with biases and preconceptions. Also, many courts have written rules about dressing for court that 99.99% of the time defendants don't read.

So my advice to you is to DRESS PROPERLY FOR COURT!

SJ out.

[Fizley]

Good reminder!

We as a nation have gone too casual. I walked into my insurance office last week and my insurance agent was sitting dressed in jeans and a Ac DC t-shirt. There were numerous employees dogs roaming threw the office. I was dressed in a dress shirt and black slacks and by the time I left My black slacks were covered in fur.

Certainly do not believe my insurance agent needs to wear a shirt and tie, or bring back hosiery for the ladies, but a little professionalism goes a long way.

I will be shopping agents when my policy renews.

[Chung Tran]

Originally Posted by Fizley

I walked into my insurance office last week and my insurance agent was sitting dressed in jeans and a Ac DC t-shirt.

Cut him a break! at least it wasn't a Slipknot t-shirt!

See how sexist I am? You never specified ''he'', but I ran with it

I'm one of the rare guys at my job, who wears a tie. It used to be mandatory.

Now 1/5 people at Walmart are wearing pajamas.

[Unique_Carpenter]

Heh,
I still wear a tie.
And every male bottom feeder I know has a spare tie handy.

I do want to add a serious followup to John's comment.
Even in civil court (lawsuits, etc) dress for church.
And, if someone is gonna have a support posse show up, they better dress for church also.
One of the gals I drink with has a story of how she asked defendant's grandmother make sure defendants posse dressed nice. She said that went well (think Tyler Perry's "Madea" character).

[Tim Horton]

In 1982 I had to go to traffic court in Cuyahoga County, Ohio. For my court date, I got a haircut, shaved, and put on a coat and tie. Looking very preppy back in the day.

Walk into the courthouse and look around at all the folks wearing shorts, T-shirts, tank tops, and sandals. Figure I have this thing licked and will get off with a warning.

Bailiff comes in and says “all rise for the honorable so and so”. We all stand, the door near the bench opens, and a lady comes out, with the judge behind holding onto his shoulder. His Honor was blind as a bat, and needed to be led to his chair.

No warning that day. Hefty fine and court costs.

[ShysterJon]

Tim, as they say, justice is blind.

[rexdutchman]

Funny that you have to remind people

[billw1032]

Originally Posted by rexdutchman

Funny that you have to remind people

We live in a world of "business casual" and where CEOs (think Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg) wear T-shirts and jeans to major corporate meetings. I'm not sure it's for the better.

[soldierboy44]

Funny that you have to remind people...........actually it's sad.

[LexusLover]

Originally Posted by Tim Horton

Hefty fine and court costs.

You could pay it. You wore a tie. It wasn't because the Judge was blind.

I'm always amused at people getting "decked out" to attend a gathering in which their financial contribution to the group is going to be assessed and their willingness to pay is limited. Their appearances jack up the rates.

[Ripmany]

Sorry, when you go court there give you in the same orange jumpsuit you had for past week.

[Massagejunkyie69]

Originally Posted by ShysterJon

Tim, as they say, justice is blind.

LOL, maybe that should be a requirement to be a judge!