The Appellate Record : Texas Appellate Lawyer & Attorney Kendall Gray for Fifth Circuit & Supreme Court Appeals

The original post from the ABA Blog and a related article in the New York Post dealt with a sign posted by a Manhattan judge warning defendants to "Pull Up Pants." The judge was wont to send offenders of the dress code back to a holding cell to arrange their affairs, so to speak. Why?

According to the judge, it was all about respect. The New Post article quotes:

“I often tell them, ‘Excuse me, so-and-so. Were you going to a basketball court, or a tennis court? Because you certainly don’t look appropriately dressed for a court of law,” Padro told The Post.

“I’m giving them an opportunity to prove that they merit another chance,” he said of his courtroom, where selected teens are offered closely monitored, non-jail programs.

“But one of the things I’m a stickler about is that they need to carry themselves appropriately, dress appropriately and learn how to address people properly,” he explained.

Of course you, gentle reader, would never show up in court wearing baggy jeans around your knees, a ball cap turned sideways on your head, and your underoos hanging out for everyone to see. But lawyers of all stripes can be given to conduct that, while less obvious, betrays a lack of proper respect for the court and its business.

Have you ever thought about what some of our common deficiencies communicate to the court?

The barely edited motion:

Sure, it could have been 10 tightly reasoned pages. Sure, I might have put in some punctuation and removed the spelling errors. But Judge, I didn't care enough about my case to take the time. You figure it out

The Microsoft Default motion:

Sure, this is hard to read and kind of ugly, but why should I take the trouble to figure out how Microsoft Word actually works? Enjoy!

The "local rules don't apply to me" motion:

Yeah, Judge. I know. You've got lots of motions and you like things a certain way to help you decide them all. But I couldn't be bothered. I thought I'd start with the same 5 pages of procedural recitation that I always use.

What? There are local rules?

The "no limits" motion:

Page limits are for little people, Judge. My case is important--more important than your time (and yet not important enough for me to edit and cut this down).

The barely prepared hearing:

I just thought I'd wing it, Judge. You weren't doing anything, were you?

And one of my (least) favorites, the slightly-creepy-undue-familiarity-lawyer, often a former partner or co-counsel with the judge:

I know all those other people are calling you "your honor" and standing and such, but I'm kind of a big deal and, you know, we've kind of got it going on, so I'll just hang here in my chair or wander 'round the room like the Alpha Male that I am.

Now, don't get me wrong. I'm no fan of the imperious bench with an acute case of black-robe-itis. But I'm a HUGE fan of lawyers and clients treating the court with a bit of awe and respect.

When lawyers don't respect judges, clients don't respect judgments. And when we fail, whether it's just sloppiness or actually by design, we might as well have our pants on the ground.

Then who's looking like a fool?

Maybe we need a sign to remind us as we go out the door on the way to court:

Pull Up Pants.