Be Respectful and Don’t Start a Conflict
Video Transcribed: Let’s talk about how to comport yourself in court while you’re listening to testimony from other witnesses. My name is Brian L. Jackson. I’m a Tulsa men’s rights attorney here with Dads.Law, where fathers are not disposable. And I want to talk to you guys about how to behave in court when you’re not testifying.
A couple of major pointers here. First of all, don’t try to talk to your lawyer while they’re listening to testimony. It is almost impossible for a person to divide their attention completely that way, and absorb both what you’re saying and what the witness is saying. And something important could be missed. A good idea is to bring a writing implement and some paper with you to court. And if you need to pass it, and you need to communicate with your lawyer, you pass a note, and they will look at it before they get up to ask questions. So, that’s one important thing.
Another thing is you need to really control yourself. You got to exercise self-control. And sometimes that’s really, really hard. But blurting things out, pouting, sulking, sighing, slouching, dropping your hand on the table, any of that kind of emotional reaction is not helpful, and it will piss a judge off. And it could cause them to draw conclusions about you that are not positive.
So, do yourself a favor. Sit up straight. And no matter what’s going on in your head, you keep a neutral and professional demeanor about you, exterior-wise. If you need to go to the bathroom later and throw up, then that’s fine, but while you’re in that courtroom, that judge better not get any inkling that your stomach is doing hula hoops, because they don’t know you. And they will judge you based on your appearance even more than what comes out of your mouth.
So, when you’re not a witness, you need to behave yourself. You also don’t want to disrupt the record or make it so your attorney misses something that’s important. There may be a witness, who makes some statement that could be really key, but if your attorney’s busy admonishing you to shut your mouth or to sit still, then they’re not paying attention to that witness. And that’s a potential problem.
If you have questions for an Oklahoma family law attorney regarding what we’ve just talked about, I’d encourage you to go to dads.law, where fathers are not disposable.
