One of the more interesting changes to the legal profession since the COVID-19 pandemic has been the way lawyers dress for work. Before the pandemic, there were fairly well-established expectations about what attorneys should wear in different professional settings. Lawyers generally wore suits to court, and depending on the office, attorneys might also wear suits or at least business attire when meeting with clients or other lawyers. When videoconferencing suddenly became a huge part of legal practice during the pandemic, many attorneys initially tried to carry these expectations into the virtual world.
I remember that during the earlier days of Zoom calls, lawyers often dressed as though they were attending an in-person meeting. Attorneys would appear on camera wearing jackets, ties, and other business attire even though everyone knew there was a decent chance the lawyer was sitting at a kitchen table or in a spare bedroom. There were plenty of jokes during the pandemic about people wearing professional clothes above the waist and sweatpants or shorts below the camera. Nevertheless, lawyers seemed to believe that appearing professionally dressed on video was important to maintaining the seriousness of the profession.
However, it is now pretty common for me to join a video call and see another lawyer wearing a T-shirt, sweatshirt, or some other clothing that would have seemed unusual for a professional meeting before the pandemic. I have even found myself dressing much more casually for these calls. Obviously, there are situations in which lawyers should still dress more formally. If I am appearing virtually before a judge, I am going to dress the same way I would if I were physically standing in a courtroom. There are also certain client meetings, depositions, and other circumstances where more formal attire may be appropriate.
But when a few lawyers are simply hopping onto a video call to discuss discovery, scheduling, settlement issues, or some other routine matter, I am increasingly convinced that there is nothing wrong with dressing casually. Indeed, I think there can actually be some advantages to it.
For one thing, casual clothing can reveal a little bit about someone’s personality. A lawyer wearing a shirt from a particular college, sports team, vacation destination, or event might unintentionally provide an easy conversation starter. Even a completely ordinary T-shirt can make someone seem a little more approachable than they might appear while wearing a suit and tie. Lawyers spend plenty of time posturing against one another. Anything that reminds everyone that the people on the other side of a matter are regular human beings can sometimes be useful.
This can also help build rapport between attorneys. Some lawyers seem to think that being cordial with opposing counsel somehow demonstrates weakness, but I have generally found the opposite to be true. Developing a decent relationship with another attorney can make it easier to obtain extensions, resolve discovery disputes, discuss settlement, and handle all of the countless little issues that arise during litigation. Seeing opposing counsel sitting at home in a T-shirt can subtly make an interaction feel more like a conversation between two people trying to solve a problem and less like a confrontation between adversaries.
Naturally, lawyers should exercise some judgment. And lawyers should probably err on the side of formality when they do not know the expectations of the people participating in a call. Still, I think the gradual disappearance of formal attire from routine lawyer videoconferences is mostly a positive development. The legal profession has plenty of traditions that serve important purposes, but wearing a suit for every professional interaction probably is not one of them. If anything, seeing a little more personality on video calls can make lawyers more comfortable with each other and perhaps even make practicing law slightly more pleasant.
Jordan Rothman is a partner of The Rothman Law Firm, a full-service New York and New Jersey law firm. He is also the founder of Student Debt Diaries, a website discussing how he paid off his student loans. You can reach Jordan through email at jordan@rothman.law.
