Thoughts from a morning at the courthouse

[retronotmetro]

The following thoughts occurred to me while sitting around waiting for a hearing in Superior Court.

1. Attorneys, in general, dress like crap.

2. Attorneys, in general, have some damn ugly shoes.

3. A pressed and well-tailored black suit looks a helluva lot better and more businesslike than a rumpled and ill-fitting suit of any color.

4. Small-format black/white or light gray Prince of Wales check looks like crap beyond six feet away. The pattern runs together and the fluorescent lights give it a sickly cast.

5. Dear co-counsel: please don't take the term "legal team" literally by dressing uniformly. Three guys standing together in identically cut and similarly patterned mid-gray sack suits with scuffed black shoes and similar ties look like clowns, not like a brain trust.

6. "Alterations tailor." Look it up.

Oh, and someone stopped me on the street outside the courthouse to compliment my shoes. Tan RLPL/EG Cardiffs today.

 

[hopkins_student]

4. Small-format black/white or light gray Prince of Wales check looks like crap beyond six feet away. The pattern runs together and the fluorescent lights give it a sickly cast.

Is this the same as glen-plaid? If so, I disagree. If not, please explain the difference.

 

[retronotmetro]

Quote:

(retronotmetro @ Mar. 09 2005,11:57) 4. Â Small-format black/white or light gray Prince of Wales check looks like crap beyond six feet away. Â The pattern runs together and the fluorescent lights give it a sickly cast.
Is this the same as glen-plaid? Â If so, I disagree. Â If not, please explain the difference.
Glen plaid and Prince of Wales check are used and understood interchangeably even though there really is a difference. I cannot recall which one is which, and may be reversing them. At any rate in my prior post I am referring to small format plaid/check suits, using fine horizontal and vertical lines, with fairly closely spaced squares. If there is inadequate contrast between the ground and the stripes, artificial lighting can make light gray or black/white suits in this pattern look like dirty light gray from a distance, rather than a patterned suit. I own blue and dark gray glen plaid suits, which don't have this problem.

 

[JBZ]

scuffed black shoes

I can't tell you how many times I am standing in the elevator or in a meeting with an otherwise perfectly well dressed gentlemen, only to look down at his shoes and see: (a) severely scuffed and dull shoes which look like they've been worn every day for the last ten years and not shined once, (b) extremely clunky monstrosities with square toes (either leather or rubber soled), or Â

some sort of ridiculous "fashion forward" design similar to some of the wackier Mezlan offerings (which show that the gentleman in question thinks he's being "trendy&quot.

Nothing ruins a nice outfit more than one of the above.  It's enough to drive me to drink bourbon (well, more bourbon than I drink already).

Jeff

P.S. for purposes of full disclosure, I am an attorney.

 

[StagRaven]

We are in the process of the entire school undergoing civility training right now. The speakers are a group of three attorneys who represent corporations and universities against suits. One gentleman got almost everything about how to dress incorrect, the other was somewhat better. The only one of the three who looked at all like a professional was the female junior. Sadly, I assume they had come from work like that, and wear those sorts of clothes on a daily basis.

 

[imageWIS]

Quote:

scuffed black shoes
I can't tell you how many times I am standing in the elevator or in a meeting with an otherwise perfectly well dressed gentlemen, only to look down at his shoes and see: (a) severely scuffed and dull shoes which look like they've been worn every day for the last ten years and not shined once, (b) extremely clunky monstrosities with square toes (either leather or rubber soled), or Â

some sort of ridiculous "fashion forward" design similar to some of the wackier Mezlan offerings (which show that the gentleman in question thinks he's being "trendy"). Nothing ruins a nice outfit more than one of the above. It's enough to drive me to drink bourbon (well, more bourbon than I drink already). Jeff P.S. for purposes of full disclosure, I am an attorney.
I don't get it either. A simple pleasure in life is applying shoe cream to a pair of shoes and watching the leather absorb the moisture, becoming better looking with each passing moment. There is at the end, something satisfying about cleaning and polishing ones own shoes. Jon.

 

[Murrah]

"1. Attorneys, in general, dress like crap."

Attorneys who go to court dress like crap...the well-dressed transactional attorneys are back at the office looking swell.

 

[JBZ]

the well-dressed transactional attorneys are back at the office looking swell

Quite right, quite right.

 

[montmorency]

I don't go to court that often, but I have been going for over 20 years. I have seen a lot of poorly dressed lawyers but have seen well dressed ones too. In fact, the well dressed attorneys stand out. There is a common wisdom passed around that an attorney should not dress too well when appearing before a jury. The thinking is that the jury will assume the attorney is wealthy and, therefore, the client must be too and fashion its verdict accordingly. I follow this adage by avoiding wearing french cuff shirts to jury trials. I also find that most judges are plain dressers and am concerned that by dressing too well, the judge may view me as 'not his kind' or as someone who is not serious. Perhaps it is really true that transactional attorneys dress better as a whole than litigators.

 

[retronotmetro]

Quote:

the well-dressed transactional attorneys are back at the office looking swell
Quite right, quite right. Â

Maybe, but only until they walk out from behind the desk and you get to see the shoes.

 

[Renault78law]

People, in general, dress like crap. Don't you think your criticisms apply a bit more broadly than attorneys?

 

[wja]

They ought to make you guys wear scrub suits.

 

[JLibourel]

Retro, couldn't you display a little human kindness and direct these sartorially challenged barristers to W.W. Chan, the way you did me? But, then, we wouldn't want to make our waiting period for our new duds from Chan too long, now would we?

 

[hopkins_student]

They ought to make you guys wear scrub suits.

God no, then there wouldn't be enough scrubs for the doctors I work with and we'd be forced to look at their maroon blazers from the 1970s. Doctors are generally no better than attorneys it seems.

 

[retronotmetro]

They ought to make you guys wear scrub suits.

We adopted English common law, but not the powdered wigs and gowns. If we went back that way, at least everyone would look equally odd.