General FAQs
Get answers to critical questions.
Below are some quick answers to some common questions often asked by clients or their family members. Remember – information on this website is not meant to substitute or replace actual legal advice or analysis.
How should you dress for court?
Your mother probably told you that you never get a second chance to make a first impression. She was right, and it is important to keep that in mind when you make any appearance in any court case. What you wear and how you present yourself communicates something to the judge in the case as well as opposing counsel. How you dress and appear should communicate to the judge and to the opposing lawyer that you are respectful of the court and understand the seriousness of the proceedings.This is important, because on any given day a trial judge will have dozens of people appear before him or her. The nature of the job requires them to make rapid decisions profoundly affecting people’s lives based on incomplete information. The judge in your case is likely to know very little about you as a person. Yet, he or she will make important decisions affecting the outcome of your case. Accordingly, your appearance is almost as important as what you or your lawyer have to say. It is just human nature for a judge to develop a favorable or unfavorable impression of a person based just on the appearance.
While you can’t guarantee a favorable impression based on how you dress, you can always prevent an unfavorable impression. Some “do’s and don’ts” to keep in mind are:
- Don’t wear T-shirts or any shirt with a logo or slogan, or decorative artwork of any kind. This includes athletic teams, religious emblems and texts.
- Don’t wear hats, or caps such a baseball caps, or caps with logos.
- Don’t wear sandals if you are a man, or extremely high heels if you are a woman.
- Don’t wear shorts or capri pants.
- Don’t wear flashy jewelry of any kind – no nose lip or eyebrow jewelry. Men should remove earrings.
- Don’t wear blue jeans. Blue jeans are too casual.
- DO wear clean clothes and dress conservatively. “Business Casual” is appropriate for Depositions, Pre-trial hearings and proceedings, unless you are testifying.
- DO put your cell phone on vibrate or leave it in the car.
- When testifying, men should wear a coat and tie; women should wear a dress.
Call Our Office at (318) 227-1460 For A Confidential Appointment.
What do I do if I am served with a subpoena?
A subpoena is an order of the court for a person to appear and give testimony, known as a “subpoena ad testificondum.” Another form of subpoena is known as a “subpoena duces tecum,” is a subpoena that directs a person to appear in court and bring documents or things with them.You cannot ignore a subpoena. If you fail to appear in court as directed, the court can issue a warrant for your arrest and you could be required to post a bond to be released from custody.
If you are one of our clients, and you receive a subpoena you should contact our office immediately.
If you are not one of our clients and you receive a subpoena that our firm has issued to you, you should also contact our office. We will try to answer any questions you have, will keep you informed of any change of court date, and will try to coordinate your appearance to minimize any disruption to your schedule.
Call Our Office at (318) 227-1460 For A Confidential Appointment.
Can I communicate with your office by email?
Confidentiality is a problem with email. So, we limit our communication via email because it is not a secure means of communication. So, we try to limit email communication to administrative type information such as appointment times, court dates or contact information for witnesses. Also, it is generally okay to scan and email documents you might normally fax to us into .PDF format.If there is a need to send confidential information please coordinate before-hand to make arrangements to encrypt the data before you send it.
Also keep in mind that even though we will receive your email immediately, we will need time to respond.
Any emails you forward to us should contain the following or similar confidentiality notice at the top of the message:
“The information contained in this communication is confidential, may be attorney-client privileged, may constitute inside information, and is intended only for the use of the addressee. It is the property of the sender. Unauthorized use, disclosure or copying of this communication or any part thereof is strictly prohibited and may be unlawful. If you have received this communication in error, please notify the sender immediately by return e-mail and destroy this communication and all copies thereof, including all attachments.”
Call Our Office at (318) 227-1460 For A Confidential Appointment.
