One morning when I was entering into a courtroom in one of the busiest county courthouses, I noticed a small sign on the attorney’s table which read “Please proceed with the utmost professionalism”; and below those big letters, the sign further stated, “you can disagree and argue facts, but do so in a courteous and professional manner.”
Later on as I began to argue my case, I kept seeing the sign in my mind, and then I suddenly noticed that the judge was becoming irritable and evasive. As the opposing counsel argued his case the judge became increasingly confrontational and seemed to appear irritated that we had the nerve of asking him to make a decision on the legal case. After both arguments concluded, we spent the next half hour receiving screams from the bench on why the case should have been settled elsewhere, and that we were wasting his time.
The opposing counsel and I both agreed that it was his job to make a decision on a legal case when the parties cannot reach an agreement… however we received another half hour of bashing from the judge.
At this point, I was done, and I looked over to the desk that had the small sign I read earlier, and I decided to grab it and hold it in front of my chest. When the judge noticed the sign I was holding, he got up from the bench and walked out of the courtroom.
“Utmost professionalism.”