Page 19 - IAV Digital Magazine #496

The only true FREE CLASSIFIEDS in the Antelope Valley... Where buyers and sellers meet!
Judge Reminds Lawyers
To Get Out of Bed, Put On
Shirts For ZoomHearings
April 14 (UPI) -
- A Florida judge issued a letter to lawyers in his district reminding them to get out of bed and put on shirts before tele- conferencing into online hearings.
Judge Dennis Bailey of Broward Circuit Court, which had started holding some hearings virtually using teleconfer- encing app Zoom, said in a letter posted on the Weston Bar Association web- site that conduct- ing hearings out- side of court is no
excuse for letting decorum fall by the wayside.
"It is remarkable how many attor- neys appear inappropriately on camera," Bailey wrote. "We've seen many lawyers in casual shirts and blouses, with no concern for ill- grooming, in bed- rooms with the master bed in the background, etc. One male lawyer appeared shirt- less and one female attorney appeared still in bed, still under the covers."
"And putting on a beach cover-up won't cover up you're poolside in a bathing suit. So, please, if you don't mind, let's treat court hear- ings as court hearings, whether Zooming or not," Bailey wrote.
Bailey said he believes hearings should be treated as formal court procedures, regardless of set- ting.
"I would want [attorneys] dressed showing some respect for their recognition that this is a court hearing,"
Bailey told the Miami Herald.
"You're going to earn the same amount of respect that you're shown," Bailey said. "If you show up in jeans and T-shirt, it's counterpro- ductive."
iAV - Antelope Valley Digital Magazine