Welcome to Andrei’s Angle! My name is Andrei Uzumtoma and I’m the summer student at The Law Firm of Ted Yoannou. Every week, I post a new article discussing contemporary legal topics and compelling stories from the field that stay with me. Let’s chat about courtroom etiquette on this one.
I had the recent opportunity to finally speak in court! As a law student, this was equal parts nerve-wracking and exciting, waiting to finally live out something I had been envisioning for a while now.
I felt prepared going in, having shadowed our experienced lawyers Rachel, Jason, and Edmund in court numerous times before. From watching them handle simple administrative set-date matters to peace bond resolutions, guilty pleas, and trials, I picked up more than I realized just by sitting quietly in the gallery and paying attention.
If I had three words to describe a courtroom, they would be stoicism, preparedness, and formality.
Stoicism, because in the face of an adversarial process, you have to hold your ground and project a calm, composed presence for yourself and your client, without letting frustration or nerves show through. So, if opposing counsel or a witness completely falls apart on the stand, you have to marshal every facial muscle and remain stone-faced.
To carry that stoic presence convincingly, you need to be prepared. Preparedness means knowing your case cold, dressing the part, showing up early, and understanding the unique norms and customs that have been shaped through centuries of courtroom tradition.
And underlying both of those is formality itself: a formal lingo, a physical choreography, and a professional demeanor that you need to know and project if you want to be taken seriously.
That’s exactly what this article is about. I want to share the quintessential legalese-type phrases and behaviours I’ve learned in order to prepare for my first time speaking in court. In order to stay stoic, prepared, and appropriately formal, I remembered the following 12 things:
- First Things First: Bow
As you open the door and take your first step into the courtroom, give yourself a moment to pause, stand with your feet together, and bow. You don’t have to make a complete right-angle bow (although I have seen that before), but a lowering of your head with a slight bend at the hips will do. You know how to bow. Why am I explaining this!?
- You Must Stand and Rise for the Judge
Sometimes the judge isn’t in the courtroom yet and is still in the back room (i.e., the judge’s chambers). The court clerk will direct the room to rise before the judge enters (“All rise”) and then direct everyone to sit (“Please be seated”). The takeaway here is that the clerk leads, and you follow.
- “Your Worship” vs. “Your Honour”: How to Address the Judge
Ask yourself: are you speaking to a judge or a Justice of the Peace? It depends on the colour of the sash around their robe:
- Red sash: “Your Honour”
- Green sash: “Your Worship”
The difference between the two? A judge sits in the Ontario Court of Justice (OCJ) or the Superior Court of Justice (SCJ), whereas a Justice of the Peace typically presides over Provincial Offences Court (i.e., traffic tickets) and handles administrative tasks like bail hearings and set-date matters.
For my first court appearance (which was a set-date matter), there was a Justice of the Peace sitting. I clocked the green sash immediately and locked in with “Your Worship” the whole way through, quietly noting that other law students in the room hadn’t done their homework and kept calling him “Your Honour”. An easy and forgivable slip!
- How to Introduce the Matter on the Record
Let’s pretend the client’s name is Sam Smith. Once you’ve been called up to the podium, you might say something like this:
“Good morning/afternoon, Your Honour/Worship. I am here for the matter at Line ___, last name Smith, S-M-I-T-H, first name Sam. For the record, my name is Uzumtoma, U-Z-U-M-T-O-M-A, first initial A, student-at-law appearing for counsel Yoannou, Y-O-A-N-N-O-U, initial T.”
Remember to spell out last names, and find your matter’s line number on the court docket on the Ontario Courts website: https://www.ontariocourtdates.ca
“On the record” refers to the official transcript the court reporter keeps of everything said during the proceeding. If it’s said on the record, it’s now formally part of the court file and can be relied on later. That’s why you’ll sometimes hear “let the record reflect…” before someone states something they want documented.
- “Pleasing” the Court
“If it pleases the court” is an expression you may hear counsel use from time to time, asking the court’s permission before proceeding with a statement or request. For example:
“Your Honour, if it pleases the court, may I bring Mr. Smith up to the stand?” or “If it pleases the court, may we proceed to my third matter today?”
Traditionally used to open oral arguments, the phrase has evolved to take on broader meanings, even as its overall usage has declined. Two other iterations of the same phrase include: “If the court is content,” and “If the court is ready to proceed”.
- “That Is Agreeable”
Saying something is agreeable is the fancy way of saying “Yes” or “sounds good to me.”
- “May I Beg the Court’s Indulgence for a Moment”
This is a highly formal phrase used to politely request a judge’s patience, typically uttered when you need a brief moment to find documents, consult with colleagues, or handle a minor technical disruption. Often, it’s shortened to “A moment’s indulgence, please”. I’ve only heard it once, but it struck me for how charmingly archaic yet theatrically sophisticated it sounded.
- “I’m in the Court’s Hands”
This one’s number 7’s cousin. It’s a way of telling the judge that you’re deferring the decision entirely to their discretion, typically used when you’ve made your submissions but don’t want to push further on a point, or when there genuinely isn’t a strong position to advocate for one outcome over another.
I used this when asking for an adjournment to June 25th. The Crown and the Justice of the Peace instead proposed June 23rd. Rather than push back, I simply replied that I was in the court’s hands, and whatever date worked for the court worked for me!
- “Holding the Matter Down”
Holding a matter down means your case isn’t finished for the day, and the court will come back to it later in the same session. This one’s useful if you’ve encountered an issue or the judge asks you something you don’t have an answer to. You can request to hold the matter down so you can step out, consult with your principal (the lawyer who sent you), and come back once you’ve got an answer.
- Referring to Opposing Counsel: Avoid “My Friend” as a Student
I’ve heard mixed things about this one. In moots and mock trials in law school, you might have gotten used to referring to opposing counsel as “my friend”. Some lawyers, however, might not take well to hearing that from a student-at-law. And that’s fair: we haven’t graduated from law school, articled, or been called to the bar the way they have. Better to err on the side of caution and simply refer to the other side as “the Crown” (for criminal matters) or “the Plaintiff’s Counsel” / “Mr./Ms. [Name]’s Counsel” (for civil matters).
- Excusing Yourself
When you’re done handling the matter, something along the lines of, “This is my only matter today, may I please be excused?” will do.
- Bow on the Way Out, Too
Once you’ve received permission from the judge to be excused, give a quick bow before turning to head out of the courtroom. Then, right before you exit through the doors to leave, give one final bow while facing the judge.
This is theatre at the end of the day. Everyone’s robed, speaking Shakespearean-adjacent English, and bowing like they’re meeting the King.
Andrei’s Angle adjourned.
These articles are provided for general information purposes only and are not intended as legal advice.