Courtroom Etiquette: Showing Respect for the Law
Are you going to court and you’re not sure what to do or how to handle yourself? My name is Carl Birkhead. I’m an attorney with Wirth Law Office in Tulsa, Oklahoma. I’ve been practicing for about seven years, mainly in family and criminal law. Today I’m going to help you make law easy by giving you some advice on how to behave in court.
This actually came up a couple of weeks ago, this story prompted me to shoot this because there are a few rules that you have to observe in the courtroom and it all comes down to just respect, being respectful of the court’s time, being respectful of the judge, being respectful of the parties who are in front of the judge actually getting their case heard while you’re waiting. A couple of weeks back I was sitting on a docket with my other attorneys just going through the docket sheet making sure that I was ready for my client when all of a sudden a phone went off in the courtroom, in the audience, which is wild because just about everywhere you go there are signs everywhere saying silence your phones.
Respect the Court Proceedings
Not only did this gentleman not silence his phone but he answered it and started having a conversation in the middle of the courtroom. I mean judge is over here trying to help these parties get divorced and this guy’s like “oh yeah no ground beef sounds great for dinner tonight blah blah blah blah blah”. Five times the judge and his bailiff asked this gentleman to get off the phone and step outside and the gentleman literally looked at the court just “???” That is an example of contempt of court.
Showing the court contempt for the proceedings that are happening by acting like what you were doing is more important. That’s not okay. That’s very disrespectful. That guy almost got arrested for it. It seems like a very simple thing to do but it’s very very easy to forget. Silence your phones or even better yet just don’t even have your phone with you so that you can be giving the court the attention and the respect that it deserves. Giving the other parties in there the respect that they deserve because they’re going to be giving you that same respect when it’s your turn.
Be Respectful and Courteous in the Courtroom
Ultimately it comes down to just being respectful and courteous in the courtroom and it’s so important because that more than anything else depends on what happens at the end of the hearing. Either you get to go home or you get to go to jail. My name is Carl Birkhead. If you have any other questions about how to behave in court or you’ve got some questions about a case that you have coming up please feel free to reach out to me at MakeLawEasy.com, Wirth Law Office. I’m here to help. Thank you.
Call to Action: Schedule Your Low-Cost Initial Strategy Session
For further guidance on courtroom best practices and legal assistance, contact Carl Birkhead at Wirth Law Office. Schedule your low-cost initial strategy session today by calling 918-879-1681.