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Wednesday, February 01, 2006
Lawyerly attire
I've been wearing a suit on days that I teach this semester, which is a change from previous semesters, when I wore a shirt and tie and slacks but not a suit. A former student of mine asked me today why I'd gone to wearing a suit, and I mentioned that the formal night dinners on the winter cruise I was on convinced me it wasn't so bad wearing a suit. That prompted another student to mention that he'd be fine if he never had to wear a suit.
I certainly felt that way when I was working at a law firm. Fortunately for me, the firm adopted a "business casual" dress code not just for Fridays, but all days. There was even a debate about it at the firm retreat, but the associate assigned to defend the traditional dress code didn't have his heart in it.
Still, one of the points he made was that the suit is the "uniform" of the lawyer. Obviously, when you go into court, you have to wear a suit. When you meet corporate clients (well, not all of them; some dress quite casually), you have to wear a suit. And if you aren't used to wearing a suit, you won't perform as well when you're wearing one, because you'll be uncomfortable.
Those considerations don't apply to most law professors, and many don't wear suits. Yet, I suppose there is some value to it. It sets you apart from the students, which is a not insignificant consideration when you might otherwise look like a student. (A few years ago, at the ice cream social for the new 1Ls, a couple of students asked me which "section" I was in.) It also sets a tone for the students, who, after all, *will* be going off to become lawyers and having to go to court and to meet corporate clients.
Of course, there are some limits to this. When I went to journalism school, which preceded law school, one of the journalism professors was notorious for making his basic reporting students dress up for class. I think he sent a memo to the effect of "Summer is over, put away your shorts and dress like the professionals you want to be."
I wouldn't go that far, but I think perhaps this year I will have my students wear suits for the "oral argument" that they have to present.
On a related note, I wonder how common it is for junior law professors to wear suits when they teach?
Posted by Tung Yin on February 1, 2006 at 03:17 PM in Life of Law Schools, Teaching Law | Permalink
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Comments
Tung -- My students would _love_ to read both your post and my response, because teasing me about my attire seems to be one of their favorite pastimes.
For all of the stated reasons, I started my first semester wearing a suit (but no tie) to both of my classes (it was just too damn hot down here in South Florida for a tie). That lasted about three weeks, when I switched to a sports jacket... That lasted about three weeks, when I......
Suffice it to say, by the end of the semester, I was in a polo shirt and khakis. I may have gone too far, mind you, but I think, in retrospect, that I had overestimated the importance of formality in the classroom, at least in my case. (It helps, of course, that I'm 6'8"). I just followed three rules: No jeans, no t-shirts, and no flip-flops. Whether that's okay by my faculty, well, you'll have to ask them.
Seriously, though, I think that eventually I'll end up in business-casual land -- dress shirt and slacks/khakis. But that's only for my class, and only when it's just me. For other classes that I'm visiting, or when I have a guest speaker, I tend to be a bit more formal... :-) It's fun, though -- when I _do_ dress up, people seem so shocked!
Posted by: Steve Vladeck | Feb 1, 2006 4:41:39 PM
It's fun, though -- when I _do_ dress up, people seem so shocked!
I've gotten something of a similar reaction from a number of my colleagues. . . .
Posted by: Tung Yin | Feb 1, 2006 4:48:45 PM
Maybe we should wear robes to teach: http://prawfsblawg.blogs.com/prawfsblawg/2006/02/robes_not_just_.html
Posted by: geoffrey manne | Feb 1, 2006 4:59:07 PM
I'm not quite sure why anyone would be uncomfortable wearing a suit; personally, I can't imagine what would be more comfortable. But to each their own.
Posted by: Simon | Feb 1, 2006 5:04:06 PM
Simon -- In 95-degree September Miami weather, with 95% humidity, I think almost anything would be "more" comfortable...
Posted by: Steve Vladeck | Feb 1, 2006 5:17:18 PM
I disagree - where I live in Indiana, summer is routinely that hot and that humid, day in day out. I almost never wear jeans in the summer, because it's unbearable. Certainly the suit jacket gets taken off except when absolutely necessary, but I think it's very comfy, hot weather notwithstanding.
Posted by: Simon | Feb 1, 2006 5:25:55 PM
I teach in a clinic, and I where either a suit or sport coat, slacks and tie every day. I think it sets a tone for the students that the clinic is a law firm with real clients and they must take it seriously. I require them to wear business attire when they meet clients, etc.
I'll be teaching outside the clinic in the fall, and will probably dress the way I do in the clinic. My sense is that the vast majority of lawyers no longer where suits to work on a regular basis (I know I didn't and I worked at DOJ), but that students should expect that they will have to and be happy when they don't have to.
Posted by: Keith Blair | Feb 1, 2006 6:16:23 PM
Throw on a sports coat or a nice dress shirt at the very least. Thanks
Posted by: x | Feb 2, 2006 12:27:56 AM
Depending on who you believe, 80% of all communication is non-verbal. If you want to make a good impression upon a client, a jury, or a judge, you wear a suit. The entire point of the suit is not to make you feel comfortable, but the people with whom you deal comfortable. Comfortable with whom they are entrusting their money, case, or, sometimes, life. You never get a second chance to make a first impression.
Posted by: Mel Gibson | Feb 2, 2006 3:32:42 AM
I take all of the arguments about professionalism, but does what a _professor_ wears to class, so long as it isn't a t-shirt and shorts, really make a difference vis-a-vis students' opinion of the professor? If class still sucks, wearing a suit won't help; if class is great, wearing a suit won't detract. Or will it?
Posted by: Steve Vladeck | Feb 2, 2006 9:49:54 AM
That's a social rule: you're perceived by the way you dress. I was always judged to be competent because I wore a suit and upheld myself in a professional manner. Plus, it's a good example to set to your students. If something can help you, you use it; but if it can deter from your presentation, you don't use it.
Posted by: Mel Gibson | Feb 2, 2006 1:28:03 PM
I notice that all the comments are from male law professors. It's rather different for women (especially those who, like me, are short). I have always started off a new semester in dress clothes, because otherwise a significant number of students refuse to take me seriously. After about a month, I switched to jeans (at Minnesota, where I wasn't the only one) -- after the students had judged me on my merits rather than my clothes. At some point I decided I was too old to teach in jeans, so now I stay dressed up all semester (if I hadn't made the switch before I moved to Vanderbilt, I would have done so then -- the culture is different.)
But any woman -- especially a junior woman -- reading the post and its comments should be wary of translating any of it directly. There really is a difference, especially among a certain kind of male student.
By the way, it's raining cats and dogs in Tallahassee at the moment -- where's that famous heat? (Hi, Dan.)
Posted by: Suzanna Sherry | Feb 2, 2006 2:47:39 PM
The "distinguishing oneself from the students" angle wouldn't have worked at the Melbourne Uni Law School (Melbourne, Australia). Final year students who already had jobs lined up for next year were distinguished from "the jobless rabble" (which included me) by their suit-wearing. The lecturers (the structure is different in Australia, and hardly anyone is a Professor) dressed however they pleased - some in suits, most not. My first year Torts lecturer usually turned up in his motorbike leathers. Everyone's favourite first year lecturer inevitably turned up in board shorts and a grubby t-shirt, which was part of his appeal to all the scared first years. (That plus his wacky sense of humour and his Canadian accent.)
As someone who now has a job as a practicing lawyer, I would love not to have to wear nylons every day. Casual is last Friday of the month for us: there's no expectation any more (thank goodness) that women will wear skirts rather than trousers, but during summer I tend to. However, any benefit of the skirt in the heat of an Australian summer is countered by those damn nylons.
Posted by: Heidi | Feb 2, 2006 4:39:36 PM
dress shirtsunfinished furniture
Posted by: dress shirts | Feb 27, 2006 11:11:33 AM
Lawyerly attire is essential at Sydney University Law School, because unlike other schools, its situated in the heart of the CBD and legal district (so as to allow practitioners and guest lecturers from the Supreme Court and AGeneral easy access), and so it is more of a cultural norm due to environment. Final years like James Dickson and even first years like Gwendolyn Chambers and Stephen Thanabalan already come dressed up. Surely us students know that we're over dressed at times, but the lecturers set the trend by dressing brilliantly, and it trickles down; becomes a cultural norm. A good one I might add, as it keeps the air of professionalism firmly in check.
Posted by: Sylvia | Nov 9, 2006 11:11:40 PM
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