Here are some frequently asked questions that we come across at 
the law firm of Portanova-Rutigliano

What Should I Wear to Court?
What Is Proper Court Behavior?
Why Can’t I Schedule Court Matters At My Convenience?
Why Does It Take So Long For My Case to Be Heard?
Whom Should I Talk To In Court?
Why Did I Get a Different Result Than My Friend Did In The Same Type of Case?
What Is The “Discovery Process?”
Why Do I Have To Provide Information During A Lawsuit That I Consider Personal?
Who Are The Court Personnel?
What Are The Differences Between Courts?
What Is A Subpoena, And What Do I Do If I Am Served With One?
What Do These Court Terms Mean?
What are Motions?
What are Depositions?
Is It All Over When A Judgment Enters?
How Do I Prepare For A Deposition?

What Should I Wear to Court?

There are only a few occasions when you are going to appear in court, but it is important to make your best impression upon the judge and other court personnel. Image counts! Any clothing that you wear must indicate respect for the court and the judge, regardless of your personal feelings towards either or both. For men, a conservative suit or sport jacket with tie and slacks are preferable. For women, conservative pantsuits, suits, dresses, or blouse/skirt combinations are acceptable. Jewelry and makeup should be kept to a minimum.

 

What Is Proper Court Behavior?

Being in court can be a stressful and unpleasant experience for most people. It is also a time when emotions can run high. You should realize that you are only hurting yourself if you engage in inappropriate behavior in the courthouse, such as sarcastic or disrespectful comments towards the opposing party or their attorney. Such behavior will only hurt you, both short-term and in the long run. If it is carried to an extreme, the judge may hold you in contempt, which is punishable by a fine and/or incarceration.

 

Why Can’t I Schedule Court Matters At My Convenience?

These days the court dockets are extremely crowded. Judges and court staff are often overworked. Court motions and hearings are scheduled based on a variety of factors, many of which are outside the control of your attorney. It is sometimes possible to schedule matters at a time when it is convenient for all parties, but unfortunately, this is frequently not the case. In addition, matters are often scheduled by the court on short notice. This is a hardship both on lawyers and clients, but is an unfortunate reality when dealing with the court system. Therefore, you should bear all this in mind if you suddenly find that you are inconvenienced by an unexpected court date.

 

Why Does It Take So Long For My Case to Be Heard?

Connecticut is a small state, but a litigious one. Thousand of cases, covering every imaginable subject, are pending all over the state. Criminal cases must have a priority, because of “speedy trial” laws. Divorce cases, by statute, cannot go to judgment for ninety days. However, the reality is that depending on the facts of the specific case, it may take quite a bit longer for a case to go to judgment. For your own benefit, you should not attempt to rush your case through the system. Instead, you should rely on your attorney’s advice and expertise as to whether it is appropriate for your case to go forward.

 

Whom Should I Talk To In Court?

The answer to this question is simple: no one, unless your attorney tells you it’s alright. Every courthouse is filled with a variety of people, both court personnel and people conducting business there. If you start talking to people whom you don’t know, you could easily disclose information to someone who may be harmful to your case. There may be certain people whom it is necessary for you to communicate with in court, such as family relations officers, but you should do this only upon your attorney’s direction. If you were to innocently talk to a juror, for example, this could result in a mistrial.

 

Why Did I Get a Different Result Than My Friend Did In The Same Type of Case?

No matter what you hear on the street or at work, no two cases are alike. A small factual distinction can make a big difference in the outcome of a case. I remember being told by a fellow lawyer of his experience in court one day. Both he and his brother, who was also a lawyer, were representing two individuals with similar backgrounds, who had committed the identical crime. By chance, the two matters were called in court right after each other. The presiding judge imposed a lighter sentence on the first case than the second, which was obviously very difficult to explain to the defendant who received the harsher sentence. The point is that you should not question why you did not receive the same result as a friend or acquaintance. Sometimes the difference comes down to luck-or lack thereof, such as whom the court computer assigns as the jury panel for your case.

 

What Is The “Discovery Process?”

Years ago, cases were often conducted by what was called “trial by ambush.” However, that is no longer the case. Despite what you may have seen in movies or on television, it is rare for some critical piece of evidence to suddenly pop up in the middle of a trial. It is much more likely that each side has become aware of the strengths and weaknesses of the other side through “discovery,” which, as its name implies, is the disclosure to opposing counsel of any of the pertinent facts of the particular case. Discovery takes place through a variety of means, both by written questions (Interrogatories), a request to provide copies of documents (Production), and verbal questioning under oath (Depositions).

 

Why Do I Have To Provide Information During A Lawsuit That I Consider Personal?

Unfortunately, there isn’t much information that you can refuse to provide to opposing counsel in the context of a lawsuit. Whether you are the plaintiff or a defendant (or sometimes even a witness), almost any question you can think of may have some relevance to the case. Several years ago, the judges in the state got together, and came up with what became standardized Interrogatories and Production for accident cases. You cannot refuse to answer any of the questions. If you do so, you risk the imposition of judicial sanctions, such as a monetary fine, the inability to produce certain evidence at trial, or the dismissal of your case. No matter how unpleasant it may be, you must answer any question that is asked of you, unless your attorney advises you otherwise. You must answer all questions honestly. If you do not do so, you face the same penalties previously described. Do not assume that you can provide false, incomplete, or misleading information, and get away with it. There are a variety of methods by which opposing counsel can verify your responses, especially in this computer age, so do yourself a favor, and tell the truth-the whole truth.

 

Who Are The Court Personnel?

The first thing you do when you go to court is to walk through a metal detector, run by one or more sheriffs. This means that everything remotely metallic has to come out of your pockets and purses. Cameras and recording equipment are not allowed, without special written permission from a judge.

When you go into a courtroom, there will be a court clerk, who may or may not be a lawyer. The clerk’s job is to assist the judge. There will also be a sheriff assigned to each specific courtroom. For family cases, there are family relations officers, whose job is to assist the parties to a case by helping to put together agreements, conducting studies and making recommendations, etc. In addition, there are various other members of the court staff, such as probation officers.

 

What Are The Differences Between Courts?

Some cities, such as Bridgeport, have several different court buildings. You must make sure that you go to the right court building! The United States District Court is on Lafayette Boulevard. As its name implies, it handles cases involving federal laws or diversity of citizenship. The Juvenile Court is on Fairfield Avenue. It handles various types of cases involving minors. There is an old red buck courthouse on Golden Hill Street, which handles traffic offenses, minor criminal cases, Housing Court, and Support Enforcement. It is sometimes referred to as Part B. The courthouse at 1061 Main Street handles civil lawsuits, family cases, and more serious (Part A) crimes.

 

What Is A Subpoena, And What Do I Do If I Am Served With One?

A subpoena is an order for you to appear at a certain time and place, usually in court, for a specific purpose. To be effective, it must be served on you in hand by the sheriff or process server. If you do not appear in response to the subpoena, the person issuing the subpoena can request a judge for a capias, which is an order to have you physically taken into custody by sheriffs, so that you will appear for the necessary proceedings. One attorney routinely issues a subpoena to the opposing party in a court case. If you do get served with a subpoena, call your attorney immediately to discuss what you should do. Sometimes arrangements can be made for you to appear at a date and time more convenient than those specified in the subpoena.

 

What Do These Court Terms Mean?

Like any profession or industry, the court system has its own specialized terminology, or “legalese.” For example, many people are served with a writ, which states that they must file an Appearance by a certain return day, and assume that they must physically come to court. However, this only means that a court form, called an Appearance form, needs to be filed in court by the date specified. A pretrial is an informal discussion of the case by the attorneys and a judge, in an attempt to narrow the issues in a case, or to resolve it entirely. Sometimes an attorney trial referee or special master acts in place of a judge. A status conference is a meeting with a court clerk and/or judge to schedule various things necessary for a case. You should ask your attorney about any term which you do not understand.

 

What are Motions?

Motions are the vehicle by which a case moves along, and by which various orders affecting a case can be entered. In a divorce action, certain automatic orders enter right at the outset of a case, so that the position of each party is kept in status quo, pending further orders of the court. There may also be pendente lite (latin for “during litigation”) orders entered during a divorce action, such as an order for alimony payments to be made until the final divorce judgment is entered. There are some radical motions, such as summary judgment motions, a decision on which can actually determine whether a plaintiff can proceed with his case.

 

What are Depositions?

A deposition is a proceeding at which you are put under oath, the same oath which you would be given when you testify in court, and are asked questions by some or all of the lawyers involved in a case. Sometimes the notice of deposition specifies certain documents, which you are to bring to your deposition, so that you can be questioned concerning them. Once the deposition is concluded, the stenographer, who has been taking down the questions and answers, will type them up and put them into a booklet form. This transcript can then be used in future court proceedings especially at time of trial. Therefore, it is important to give an answer at a deposition during a deposition that you would be comfortable with at trial, to avoid having the other attorney make it appear like you changed your answer to try to make yourself look better.

 

Is It All Over When A Judgment Enters?

Not necessarily. In a civil trial, there may be post-trial motions that can substantially affect the verdict in the case. There is also the possibility of an appeal being taken, which could mean that a year or more goes by before all the issues are finally resolved by the court system. In a divorce case, contempt motions and other motions which arise out of the divorce judgment are not uncommon.

How Do I Prepare For A Deposition?

To prepare for a deposition, you should refresh your memory or recollection about the accident or incident involved in the case.  All available material such as photographs, accident reports, and any other information relating to the accident should be carefully reviewed.  It is helpful to reconstruct, in your mind, the occurrence of the accident in detail.  It may be helpful to go by the scene of the accident prior to the deposition and observe it as carefully as possible.

At the deposition, the guidelines below should be carefully followed:

• TELL THE TRUTH - A lie may lose the case.  In a lawsuit (as in other matters) honesty is the best policy.  Telling a deliberate falsehood is bad policy.  Telling the truth requires that you testify accurately about what you know.  If you tell the truth and tell it accurately, you have nothing to fear on cross-examination.
• DON'T GUESS - If you don't know, say you don't know.
• Be sure you UNDERSTAND THE QUESTION before you attempt to give an answer.  You cannot possible give a truthful and accurate answer unless you understand the question.  If you don't understand the question, ask the lawyer to repeat it.
• TAKE YOUR TIME - Give the question such thought as it requires to understand it and formulate your answer and then give the answer.  Give a positive answer whenever you can.
• Beware of questions involving distances and time.  If you make an estimate, make sure that everyone understands that you are estimating.
• DON'T LOSE YOUR TEMPER no matter how hard you are pressed.  Lose your temper and your may lose your case.  If you lose your temper, you have played right into the hands of the cross-examiner.
• BE COURTEOUS - Being courteous is one of the best ways to make a good impression on all concerned.  Don't be afraid to answer "Yes sir" and "No sir."
• AVOID JOKING AND WISE CRACKS - A lawsuit is a serious matter.