The 12 Commandments of Court Manners; What to expect at a hearing/interim hearing/mention

Court can be daunting. There are so many do’s and don’ts … here are a few for you to consider and keep in mind:

  1. “Dress to Impress.” While you don’t have to wear a suit, you do need to dress respectfully. Consult your lawyer regarding what they recommend, in their opinion, as suitable attire regarding what you should wear
  2. Bow to the judge when you walk into the court room and as you depart
  3. Sit behind your lawyer on the bench seat available. Typically, the applicant sits to the left of the judge and the respondent to the right of the judge
  4. When swearing in or affirming, look the judge in the face the entire time. Do not look away or let your gaze wander
  5. Face of steel, poker face. If you are pulling faces or rolling your eyes, the judge will pull you up
  6. Refer to the judge as “Your Honour”
  7. Keep your answers to short “yes” or “no”
  8. Write notes and pass to your lawyer, not barrister. Lawyer will vet the note and forward as necessary to the barrister
  9. If the other side examining you gets long winded, ask for the specific question again.
  10. If the barrister isn’t getting to the point, the judge will ask the question.
  11. If your barrister is about to stand up, shut up. They won’t want you to keep talking
  12. The lawyer and barrister may “snub” you at first because during the hearing they are not supposed to counsel/coach you. In a 3-day hearing, the lawyer and barrister should start relaxing a little on / by the final day. If you are the applicant, you will be on the stand and cross-examined prior to the respondent.

    BONUS two:

  13. Sometimes the expert witnesses go before the applicant and respondent. It depends on the judge and what order the judge prefers
  14. Do not use your phone or computer in court. If you need to have notes while court is in session, have a hard-copy or printed version

For further support, direction and guidance, book your 45-minute Strategy Session today!

Disclaimer

This is general advice only and is not provided as legal advice. If you have a legal issue, you should contact a lawyer and/or accountant before making a decision about what to do or applying to the Court. DivorceAnswered.com.au cannot provide legal advice. If you have an emergency situation, please contact Emergency '000'. © Divorce Pty Ltd

Divorce Answered Tools

Be resource rich with Divorce Answered’s unique products that are individualised, time efficient and save you money.

LEARN MORE

Popular Post

Categories

Tag Cloud

60i abuse addictions advice affidavit aggression agreement agreements alone amicable anger animals announcement announcing anxiety application appointment arrangements assets barrister bedrooms behaviour benefits bonds book boundaries break-up budget care career celebrate celebration celebrations change changes child child-support children christmas co-parent co-parenting collaborative communication concerns conciliation conflict connection consultation control conversations cooperative-parenting coronavirus cost costs couple court court-orders courts covid-19 custody dad dating de-facto death debt decision dinner direction dispute distribution divorce document documetation domestic-violence economy effects emotions employment empowerment end evidence expat expectations expert facilitator fails family family-court family-law father fathers-day fdr feelings fees final-hearing finance finances financial financials form friend friends friendship gifts grandparents gratitude grief happiness harassment hardship health hearing help holiday holidays home how-to identity infidelity informing international-womens-day isloation isolation january journey judge last-will lastname law lawyer leaving legal legals lesson lessons lifestyle loans loneliness love maintenance management manifestation marriage mealtime mediation mental-health mistake money mortgage mother mothers-day moving moving-on mum name name-change negotations nesting new-year occasion occasions opinion order orders organisation overseas parallel-parenting parent parenting parenting-plan partner pets plan plans police positives preparation presents process productivity property psychologist recording regrets relationship relationships report represent resolution responsibility sale save savings school security self-care selfcare selfworth separation settlement settlements sharing siblings single single-parent sleep social-media special-occasion split strategy stress suicide superannuation support talk threat time tips to-do trial valentines-day violence visualisation wellbeing will witness work