Legal Ease, April 11

It would seem obvious that lawyers in court are to dress appropriately but what does appropriately mean? Is a tie always required for men? Must women wear a skirt or dress?

It seems almost unbelievable, but when I started being a lawyer, there were Ontario judges who would refuse to allow a woman to appear in court unless she wore a grey skirt and dark stockings.

These were the very same judges who would insist that witnesses dress in a jacket and tie and would comment negatively on a witness who was not dressed like a businessperson.

We have come a long way since then and none of that nonsense still prevails.

Nevertheless, there are rules about what a lawyer can wear in court and those rules are so formal that they are part of a formal direction of the court to lawyers.

There are two basic distinctions in what must be worn.

First, is the matter before the Nunavut Court of Justice—the trial level court—or is it before the Nunavut Court of Appeal? Second, if the matter is before the Nunavut Court of Justice, is the matter a jury trial or something else?

In the Nunavut Court of Justice, except for jury matters, male lawyers must wear a conservative business suit or sports jacket and pants combination with a tie and dress shoes or, formal sealskin vests and or kamiks may be worn in place of a suit jacket and dress shoes.

I usually wear a sealskin vest with a dress shirt and tie. Female lawyers must wear a conservative business suit or skirt and dress, or pants and jacket, combination with dress shoes. An amauti and kamiks may be worn in place of a suit jacket and dress shoes.

Lawyers who are not dressed properly are very likely to be told by the court that they will not be allowed to speak unless there is a very good reason for not being properly dressed—say on a circuit and the luggage with proper clothes was delayed.

In jury matters where there is evidence called—that is when witnesses are testifying—lawyers must wear formal legal robes. The same rule applies on all appeals—lawyers appearing before the Nunavut Court of Appeal must always wear full legal robes.

What are full legal robes?

They are long black robes that are open in the front, a black waistcoat, a wing collared shirt and two white “tabs” that are strips of white cloth worn under the wings of the collar.

Some people say the black colour of the robes is to show respect for the passing of some Monarch—perhaps Charles II—but that is likely just a fiction.

Dark-coloured robes showed lawyers as being professionals, like clergy and academics. Lawyers in Canada do not wear wigs as barristers in the United Kingdom traditionally did.

However other than that slight difference, formal Canadian legal dress is very much the same as what English lawyers wore, at least until very recently.

James Morton is a lawyer practicing in Nunavut with offices in Iqaluit. The comments here are intended as general legal information and not as specific legal advice.