An important rule for young lawyers to know is that it’s essential to counsel clients to wear appropriate attire to court hearings.
Sometimes clients will come to court, for example, without wearing a suit or tie, but only in Zoom land, and possibly Florida, would a client show up bare-chested and wearing only a bathing suit.
A Florida judge friend received an abject apology from an attorney after her client “showed up” for his final divorce hearing (via Zoom) so attired. The lawyer assured the judge that they always go over with clients the appropriate attire for court hearings.
To her credit, the judge took it all in stride, responding to the attorney with this email (names omitted). The bolded part is pretty funny:
Ms. [deleted]:
I appreciate your emailed note, apologizing that your client was not properly attired for his Zoom dissolution of marriage hearing. Please be assured that I am entirely confident that you advise clients what to wear for their dissolution of marriage hearings. I am aware that some clients, especially those under stress in family law cases, simply do not hear or register the instructions.
Of course, given Mr. [deleted]’s attire (swim trunks, bare chest, and – I can’t remember which – either flip flops or bare feet) and location (beach), I’m not sure I would classify him as terribly stressed….
Have a good weekend!
[Judge ——-]
Hey, it is Florida, after all.
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