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Scott Benton: Hey everybody, it’s Scott Benton here. I’m the host of the Classroom 2 Courtroom podcast. How are you? We are concerned with you making that transition from law school into your professional career as an attorney as easily as possible and to make sure that you understand clearly that the practice of law is fun and we are here to provide you with those tools.
A lot of what we talk about is what we call the success cycle. The success cycle is a three part process that you’re going to use with all of the legal work that you do and it’s going to help you become very efficient at Your job we believe that law school does not teach you how to practice as an attorney law schools in the business of getting you to graduate law school, but they don’t actually teach you how to practice and that’s what this podcast is all about.
We’re here to fill that gap with valuable information to you, so that when you do step into your first job as an attorney, you already [00:01:00] have a pretty good idea of how to practice law.
Scott Benton: So today’s question that we are going to discuss, talk about, and answer is, how do you behave when you’re in a courtroom? Now, this could pertain to hearings or trials. Chances are, if you’re a new attorney, you’re not going to be in a trial unless maybe you are accompanying a lead attorney who has pulled you into a trial, but chances are, you’re not going to be in a trial yourself.
However, you may be in a hearing and you may be either online on a Zoom call, for instance with a courthouse or you might find yourself in an actual courtroom in person. And if that’s the case, then you really want to know how to behave in a courtroom. This is going to become extremely valuable information to you because whether you know this or not, whether it’s been explained or not courtrooms have eyes and they have ears, and sometimes things can be overseen [00:02:00] or overheard, and at some point, That could even be used against you, I suppose.
Maybe that’s the wrong way to put it, but there could be some kind of consequence for doing something or saying something that’s observed or overheard that there’s no possible way you would have any idea about.
So, we want to take a look at what’s going to be the best behavior while you’re in court. Now, if you’ve ever clerked for a judge, you’re going to know that the entire courtroom personnel.
The bailiff and the clerks and the judge and everybody who’s there, they may seem like they’re very separate, different positions that they are performing in that particular courtroom for you. But after hours or once the court session is over and everyone has gone home, meaning everybody in the courtroom, the staff do talk about what went on that day.
I mean, that’s [00:03:00] just a natural thing for people to do. If they’ve been in a courtroom all day, they are naturally going to talk about the cases and where there’s any sort of drama or sometimes the cases are just it’s juicy. It’s kind of gossip material. Not that they’re necessarily gossiping or you know, maybe they are.
They’re human just like anybody else. They are going to discuss these cases and so you want to be very careful when you are in a courtroom about how you are presenting yourself and you want to be careful about being overheard and you want to be careful about your actions and your behaviors and you want to make sure that if you have a client that the same applies to them, that they understand that they’re largely being watched and observed, and that those behaviors and those things that are said are going to be discussed later on.
Now, it’s also natural and normal for judges to, for instance, go to lunch with other judges. So, in a courthouse, the judges all are going to kind [00:04:00] of know the different cases that each other, that they’re working on for a couple of reasons.
One, because they meet with each other and they talk about these cases. This is dialogue that judges are going to have in a sort of mentor mentee capacity or just colleague to colleague in order to sort of bounce ideas off of somebody else, somebody who’s trusted like another judge. And also because sometimes these cases go from one judge to another.
So sometimes, we’ll call them the old judge or the first judge, will be transferring a case to the new judge. And so the old judge will want to discuss that case with the new judge in order to get the new judge up to speed as quickly as possible. The point is that cases are discussed inside this courthouse team, and for the most part this is like really it’s one big happy family and even though they have, it doesn’t look like they’re connected.
They’re the different positions within a [00:05:00] courthouse and positions within a courtroom, and it seems like they’re sort of disparate and separated and that they wouldn’t necessarily be speaking to each other about the different cases, but the reality is that they do. And so now knowing that information, whenever you find yourself in a courthouse, you’re going to know that’s a part of the dynamic of that courtroom.
And so you’re going to want to be very careful in terms of, you know, once the judge is gone, for instance, it’s not like the courtroom is still not observing you. There are other people, chances are, in the courtroom who will be hearing what you’re saying or observing your behavior. So you want to use that information accordingly.
And if you’re in a courtroom and you need to talk to your client or they need to talk to you. Chances are that you’re going to want to make sure that those are very quietly communicated. The better thing to do, of course, is to leave the courtroom and make sure you have privacy before you talk to [00:06:00] each other, but if you’re in the courtroom, make sure that you understand that there is this dynamic that’s still at play.
And even if the judge isn’t there and even if the court is not in session, that there are still influences that could cause problems for you down the road.
Now, all of that aside, we still want to answer the question of how should I behave in a courtroom? Well, knowing that there’s this whole other layer on top of what it is you see and what it is you assume is going on in a courtroom and that we know it’s a given that people are talking to each other and they’re talking about the cases that the things that they saw that day.
You have to understand That when you are in a courtroom all of these people are very connected. They’re all, again, they’re like a big happy family. So if you are disrespectful to one of ’em or if you insult one of them or you’re rude or you do something that’s just sort of [00:07:00] unpleasant, then you’re really not just doing it to that one person because of the nature of a courtroom team.
They’re all tightly connected. It doesn’t look like they are, but they are. So you want to be careful about your behavior with each and every one of them. Because for every person that you treat in a courtroom, whether good or bad, that’s how you’re treating everybody. That’s how it’s seen.
Because those conversations will come up later. Oh, he was such a nice guy. I really liked that one particular attorney or well, I, didn’t like him at all, he sort of snapped at me. Did you see that? I did see that. So people will form their opinions. They’ll provide better service, worse service.
So again, to answer your question of how should you behave in a courtroom?
Well, you should be polite. You should be respectful of the court and of the court personnel who are there with you. You want [00:08:00] to make sure that your behavior is accommodating. You want to make sure that the judge and the court can operate, that you’re making their job as easy as possible.
So you want to make sure that, for instance, all the notices have been delivered and sent out all the appropriate notices that you have proof of service, a conforming proof of service on file. You have a copy of that conforming proof of service with you because sometimes in courtrooms mistakes are made and if you haven’t served notice to all of the parties who need to receive notice and the judge has a note that says that hasn’t been done, but you have a conforming copy of the proof of service with you, then it’s very easy for you just to hand that off to the bailiff.
The bailiff can hand that off to the judge, and the judge can see that, no, in fact, you have done everything that you were supposed to do, and you’ve made the judge’s life as easy as possible, and the whole courtroom’s lives as easy as possible. [00:09:00] So, you want to be respectful, you want to make their lives and their jobs as easy as you possibly can.
So, understand also that if this is going to be your demeanor, they’re going to remember who you are. They’re going to remember you by name.
They’re going to see you and they’re going to be happy that you’re in the courtroom because they’ve had positive experiences with you in the past. And always remember that’s going to come back to you. Threefold, fourfold, fivefold. That same respect that you put out in a courtroom when you make other people’s jobs easier than that respect is going to come back to you as well, and it’s going to make your job easier.
So, I hope that’s been helpful. I hope this is useful information. Remember you want to use it, especially if you’re in a courtroom in person, but also if you’re on a Zoom call in a hearing, for instance, maybe it’s not a trial, but if you’re in a hearing, you want to make sure to be as courteous and respectful as you can to the judge, to everybody associated with the court because they are all [00:10:00] tightly connected.
So you want to understand that dynamic. I hope you enjoy this information. If you do, and you’d like to receive an alert every time we put out new podcast episodes for Classroom 2 Courtroom, you can go to our website. Our website is Classroom2Courtroom.com. That’s classroom, the number two and courtroom. com.
You can put in your name and your email address. And whenever we put out a new episode of the Classroom2Courtroom. com podcast, then you’re going to get an alert. And if you do like this material, please don’t forget to share, like, and subscribe. We hope you will join us on our next episode of the Classroom 2 Courtroom podcast.
I am your host, Scott Benton. And until then we hope you’ll join us in making the world a better place, one client at a time. Thank you so much. Take care now.
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