What is appropriate courtroom atire Forum

[Veyron]

About to begin my summer position at a buisness casual outfit. I don't want to be denied the chance to go to court because I'm not rocking a suit on the day that I have the opportunity. Am I fine with any blazer or sport coat or even with just a button-down and slacks or should I keep a suit in the office?

[patrickd139]

Can't imagine you'll have the time to change into a suit if you're not already wearing it.

Keep a navy jacket and tie at the office.

[jkay]

I think it depends on the court. Around here (not a big city), attorneys only wear suits to court if there is a trial, and even then, there are plenty of SCs in the room.

[2LLLL]

Oftentimes you'll know ahead of time if you are going to court- so if an attorney says "Hey Veyron I have a hearing on Wednesday, want to come with," you can wear a suit that day. You can also just keep a navy blue blazer (assuming you're a dude) in your office and that will generally go with khakis/slacks to form acceptable courtroom attire. Keeping a blazer around will allow you to take advantages of situations where attorneys randomly pop in and tell you that they have a hearing, which also happens.

[DocHawkeye]

I thought orange jump suits were the attire of choice for the courtroom but that me be just for the defendants.

[Veyron]

Sweet. All right, I'll just leave an old navy jacket at the office and roll up a tie and stick it somewhere.

[dibs]

today i watched a girl come into court with a t-shirt that read "i love hot boys that party".

[imchuckbass58]

Just keep a suit at the office. While from the perspective of the court it's fine if you wear a blazer (or less for that matter), I'm assuming you are working for a firm in a big city, and I can pretty much guarantee your boss will frown on you not wearing a suit to court (whether or not they tell you that much), and his or her opinion is all you should care about. Lawyers are a conservative profession, and in big cities, all the lawyers wear suits to court, even if you are not involved in the case.

If you're at a new york firm in particular, I think it would be a very, very bad idea to show up to court in anything but a suit.

Also:

Can't imagine you'll have the time to change into a suit if you're not already wearing it.

Really? It takes five minutes tops to change into a suit.

[vanwinkle]

I always knew at least a day ahead of time when I'd be going to court.

[PKSebben]

Wear a suit to court.

[ebo]

I was once in court for a traffic case and a gentleman who was a defendent in the case before me had a t-shirt with the Warner Brothers logo and it said "if you see the police...warn a brother." Not surprisingly, he got a lecture from the judge on proper courtroom attire

[Veyron]

Just keep a suit at the office. While from the perspective of the court it's fine if you wear a blazer (or less for that matter), I'm assuming you are working for a firm in a big city, and I can pretty much guarantee your boss will frown on you not wearing a suit to court (whether or not they tell you that much), and his or her opinion is all you should care about. Lawyers are a conservative profession, and in big cities, all the lawyers wear suits to court, even if you are not involved in the case.

If you're at a new york firm in particular, I think it would be a very, very bad idea to show up to court in anything but a suit.

Also:

Can't imagine you'll have the time to change into a suit if you're not already wearing it.

Really? It takes five minutes tops to change into a suit.

Big city, but not a particularly dressy one. Think Houston, Dallas, San Diego, that sort of thing.

[Renzo]

Wear a suit to court.