It's the first day of summer, and (male) lawyers in Miami will wear clothes that are more appropriate for a brisk fall day than 90 degree with 95% humidity.
And still the chief judges in Federal and State court blink in wonderment and ignore this preposterous dress code tradition for those lawyers with the X and Y chromosome (for our circuit court judges, we are talking about men).
When will this madness stop?
SONG SUNG BLUE
ATL took the fancy pants at Skaaden in DC to task for their snootiness over the playing of music outside their offices by street performers. One of their solutions? We are not making this up- they are considering hiring a string quartet to get their earlier to prevent the street performers from plying their trade.
Jeeze We would love to get those lawyers in a real court and clean their clock. A string quartet? Where we grew up, if you didn't like something in the street, you showed up with some friends, maybe a bat, and settled the matter. These punks want to sing doo-wop.
The smack down is here.
Welcome back. Lets try some cases!
May I suggest you get air conditioning in your car. I've never had a problem with AC in the reg. we are lawyers, allegedly professional, as such we should dress accordingly. The short trek from lot 26 to the courthouse takes about one minute. Surely others have it worse....
ReplyDeleteI would not want my lawyer wearing guayaberas to court.
Then don't hire a lawyer who wears a guayabera. The best most brilliant surgeon I ever met wore jeans and a Springsteen t-shirt all the time except in the OR. If you want to pick a book by a cover or a lawyer by his or her expensive suit then at least you know where your money is going.
ReplyDeleteWhat do I need to park in Lot 26? Thanks
ReplyDeleteHAHA ... I am retired and never wear a tie! "The Mouse" and Judge Rick Margolis never wore ties! Be brave and don't wear one. Who is going to care?
ReplyDeleteDont look like a ham & egger. Wear a nice suit to court no matter what. Nothing looks worse than a sportcoat with some wrinkled slacks. I love a good guayabera but at the office.
ReplyDeleteIt's Skaden, I believe
ReplyDeleteRumpole,
ReplyDeleteWhen I ran for judge, I made it a feature of every possible discussion with attorneys to say that I thought the guayabera made perfect sense for Miami summertime courthouse wear.
In viewing the election results, the only conclusion one can reach is that, sadly, the voters of Miami Dade County did not agree.
Quit whining. It's hot for everybody. If you wanted to wear jeans and a Springsteen shirt, you should have become a brilliant surgeon.
ReplyDeleteHi Rump. I stayed at The Four Seasons in Palm Beach a few years ago for a quick weekend getaway with the family. It was a late afternoon check-in, so we decided to eat at the on-site restaurant where I was informed that gentlemen must wear a dress jacket while dining at this establishment. Mind you it was mid-August...Palm Beach. I had brought one Polo shirt with me and the rest casual attire. So, I checked out and moved one mile down the road to the old Ritz Carlton, where they happily accepted my attire or lack thereof and, of course, my money, and I was welcomed in every on-site eating establishment the hotel offered.
ReplyDeleteI do like The Four Seasons and have stayed at others since then but I haven't been back to the one in Palm Beach.
I totally understand the desire to make things more comfortable, and I certainly have sweat through my share of wool suits in the summer swelt, but there has to be a limit. I am all for relaxing the dress code a bit to dispense with ties for example, but there have to be some standards in place, that are adhered to. Of course there are outliers like Google that embrace a laid back, take your dog to work with you attitude, and the Springsteen T shirt surgeon, but by and large, workplace performance and productivity suffer when standards are relaxed. When you're off duty, wear what you want. But when you're on the job, look professional (and there are ways to look professional without buttoning up a navy suit and tie. you're not just representing your client accused of DWLS, you're representing a profession. Just like any other workplace, if you let the assistants wear jeans one week, they'll be wearing gym clothes and pajamas before long. We don't need a courtroom full of guys and gals in jeans, sneakers and fishing gear (Ive seen some in REG, and so have you if you've attended a DUI sounding in July).
ReplyDeleteI always dressed appropriately (suit & tie) throughout my 20 year active duty judicial career. It just seemed the right thing to do. When I began my 13 year career as Senior Judge, I stopped wearing ties, but always wore a sport coat usually with jeans and sandals. I never cared how defendants or lawyers dressed. It just seemed insignificant to the weighty issues we were all saddled with. Now fully retired, with all pretenses a thing of the past, I wear as little as possible and prefer my lady friends to do the same. Hopefully, most of you will find true freedom at a younger age than I did.
ReplyDeleteRumpole,
ReplyDeleteThe strongest argument against your position is browards Fred Haddad , the tough talking lawyer who whether in his guilty pleas or rare trials dresses like a fucking hobo.
I always loved when Margolis would yet "SHUT UP" at the top of his lungs while in court. Not exactly great judicial demeanor. He should have spent some time in federal court to see how a courtroom should be run. Another example of someone who drank at the public trough and was never in private practice. However, as odd as he was (and is) he was a far better judge then the present bench.
ReplyDeleteRumpole, you uneducated buffoon, guayaberas are considered pretty formal in the Cuban culture. In fact in old Cuba, it was not uncommon for men to attend formal events in a guayabera and a bow tie, no jacket. Now, I'm referring to a proper guayabera, not a Cubavera or other crappy one. Your comment at 9:53 is also racist.
ReplyDeleteRumpole, I retract my recent comment regarding your 9:53 comment. I misread it and I apologize.
ReplyDeleteIt's the summertime steamfest and all we can talk about is whether men should wear guayaberas or not?
ReplyDeleteLet's talk about something really fun: all those serious young ASAs and APDs as their skirts get shorter and sleeves disappear. Courtroom attire in Miami would be clubwear anywhere else.
Settle a bet I have with a group of buddies: hottest ASA/APD?