Light grey suit appropriate for attorney in court?

ALFAMALE · May 12, 2011

light grey suit in court... I don't see why that would be an issue.

GBR · May 12, 2011

In minor courts yes but in more significant ones no. Remember that Learned Judges do tend to be full of their own importance and therefore not following the path they set when young is not in your clients' interests.

SaveMeJebus · May 12, 2011

Originally Posted by gsxrlawyer

I'm an attorney in south florida also, and I'm sure you've seen some ridiculous stuff in the courts down here. That suit would be perfectly fine for the hotter days or 3 "seasons" down here.

I saw an older attorney wearing the wrinkliest black orphaned suit jacket and faded jeans with skecher sneakers in west palm beach the other day. The opposing counsel wore a suit about 3 sizes too large and it was covered in dog fur.

When I get appointed to the bench, I will admonish counsel for poor sartorial choices before making any rulings...we have to clean up this mess down here.

There's an older guy I see in Miami state court every now and then that wears the most ridiculous, obnoxious suits I've ever seen. Even more in your face than that mobster Spano suit someone was selling in B&S for a while. Of course he pairs it with a bright purple shirt and a lime green tie to really stand out. I gotta get a pic of him on my camera phone one day and make a few heads explode around here.

maseace007 · May 12, 2011

I'm an attorney in Houston and I think that suit would definitely work here. Especially in the Spring/Summer. I also do business litigation and most of the time people don't even wear ties to depos during the Spring/Summer here because it is too hot and muggy. I think it's a great suit, definitely pick it up.

Harold falcon · May 12, 2011

Originally Posted by nelly

Greatest lawyer of our time

Sacrilege.

Big A · May 12, 2011

SaveMeJebus;4460373 said:
Was thinking about picking up this Zegna suit off Ebay, though it gives me pause because it appears to be pretty light in color. What say you style gods of the internet? Can an attorney in South Florida get away with wearing this to work/to court?

Originally Posted by SaveMeJebus

Click to expand...

There's an older guy I see in Miami state court every now and then that wears the most ridiculous, obnoxious suits I've ever seen. Even more in your face than that mobster Spano suit someone was selling in B&S for a while. Of course he pairs it with a bright purple shirt and a lime green tie to really stand out. I gotta get a pic of him on my camera phone one day and make a few heads explode around here.

I don't like that suit but come on, it's Miami, I can tell you from personal experience you can wear whatever the hell you want. In Ft. Lauderdale 1/2 the lawyers don't even bother with ties anymore. In West Palm Beach there was an actual standing order that said in the summer you didn't have to wear your coat jacket (it was revoked, only because the chief judge at the time - a relative of mine - was trying to do away with the hundreds of needless standing orders at the time.

By the way, that old guy you are talking about sounds like Hugo Rodriguez. He is a fantastic criminal defense attorney - I dealt with him during his brief foray into civil law, which was not as successful (more because of who he was working with than what he did personally)

When I was just starting out a million years ago, I went to a trial seminar he gave. He showed up in what I'll term "full Miami Vice" - white suit, alligator shoes, pink socks, bright floral tie, etc. The first words out of his mouth were: "Before I start, everyone asks me if I dress like this for court. You're ******* right I do!" That was the first and last f-bomb I ever heard at a legal seminar.

Go introduce yourself to him - he's a really nice guy (unless he's just lost a case, then stay away!). He'll probably let you take a picture if you ask him. It's not like he hasn't heard about his clothing before - it's been a topic of conversation for decades.

Big A · May 12, 2011

Originally Posted by gsxrlawyer

I'm an attorney in south florida also, and I'm sure you've seen some ridiculous stuff in the courts down here. That suit would be perfectly fine for the hotter days or 3 "seasons" down here.

I saw an older attorney wearing the wrinkliest black orphaned suit jacket and faded jeans with skecher sneakers in west palm beach the other day. The opposing counsel wore a suit about 3 sizes too large and it was covered in dog fur.

When I get appointed to the bench, I will admonish counsel for poor sartorial choices before making any rulings...we have to clean up this mess down here.

I think I know who you are talking about too - especially the dog fur guy. Big fat guy? Fred something?

If you're in West Palm Beach, you've seen David Preefer (spelling?), an older guy, tanned to leather, who usually wears a blazer, no tie, jeans, no socks, and lots of gold neck chains and other miscellaneous bracelets.

Multiple judges have kicked him out for his clothing over the years. A few have even held him in contempt. He never changes. I used to know literally every one of the 40 judges on the bench down there (there's been some turnover, so I now probably only know 20 of them) and I can tell you that the consensus is that it just isn't worth the trouble to hassle attorneys over their clothing. For one thing, it's hotter than hell about 3/4 of the year. For another, you get so swamped in court that ******* around with some lawyer over their clothing is a waste of time. Some of the best attorneys (for some reason) are the odd dressers.

For example, I don't know if you've been in front of Judge Nelson Bailey since he's out in Belle Glade. He may be retired. He's a great guy, raised in Tavares, Florida. When he was a lawyer he did primarily criminal defense, and was fantastic at it. However, he dressed like an 1890's cowboy - western suit, hat, super-long beard, the works. It wasn't a gimmick - the guy raised horses, studied Florida history, and was a genuine Florida cracker, but it broke every rule about (1) what you should wear to court and (2) what a criminal defense attorney should wear.

There are two other judges I can think of off hand (Moyle and Evans) who wore nothing but jeans, every damn day. They're both Harley guys. The list goes on.

The only guy I can think of who was a stickler about it was infamous hard-ass Richard Wennett, and even he failed to change the culture.

In short, if you ever do make it to the bench, don't spend too much time fighting with S. Fla lawyers over clothing . . . many before you have tried, and they've lost that battle again and again.

GBR · May 12, 2011

Standards in American Courts do seem to be slipping more than somewhat.

Big A · May 17, 2011

Originally Posted by GBR

Standards in American Courts do seem to be slipping more than somewhat.
Standards in every professional discipline, I'd argue

garymyman · May 17, 2011

I see a lot of these "appropriate for court" type threads, so what is ideal courtroom dress? 90% of the lawyers I see are either wearing Jos A Bank sacks or goofy custom black-lawyer suits.

jimp · May 17, 2011

As a rule, I wear a dark grey or dark blue suit, but I see many lawyers in odd jackets and ties. I don't appear in court in Florida very often, but I can't see any problem with wearing a light suit there, particularly the suit you pictured.

KObalto · May 17, 2011

I'm a criminal trial lawyer, don't love the suit, but it's fine for court when it's warm.

crider8883 · May 17, 2011

Originally Posted by garymyman

I see a lot of these "appropriate for court" type threads, so what is ideal courtroom dress? 90% of the lawyers I see are either wearing Jos A Bank sacks or goofy custom black-lawyer suits.

A good starting point is the conservative business dress thread. Just about anything there would fly as a trial lawyer.

Most lawyers don't spend too much time in court, so there's no need to have a lot of suits, or a good working knowledge of mens wear.

Additionally, you have to know what your audience is. The kind of suits which would fly in Philadelphia criminal trial court won't play in a federal civil trial court (federal courts pull from a much larger area, and consequently the jury pool is much more diverse.)

Light grey suit appropriate for attorney in court?

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