A LAWYERS DRESS CODE

By Pooja Deshmukh

B. Com M. Com L. L. B.

Advocate at High Court of Bombay

Junior Advocate at Lawkhart Legal

• 

• 

Not trying to trigger any controversy by writing about this, because this may raise many questions upon the writer/ author further, any which ways the questions are welcomed in opinion form, as a platform for discussion, as everyone has a right to express their personal views. In this write-up I am going to talk about the professional conduct of the advocates, which also includes the way you conduct yourself in the courts. The important aspect to conduct yourself also includes the way we conduct ourselves, the way one dresses up to represent their litigants before any court of law.
We being very new to this profession, I myself have witnessed that when it comes to physical appearance and ones attire, for advocates, there is a very much stated way to dress up, and only in that manner one advocate, male or female, is supposed to conduct oneself. The Rules Governing Advocates laid down by the Bar Council of India are to be followed by all the upcoming advocates. Form of Dresses or Robes to be worn by Advocates are stated in Rules under section 49 (1) gg of the Advocates Act, 1961. The Chapter IV of the Bar Council of India Rules rule states that Advocates appearing in the Supreme Court, High Court, Subordinate Courts, Tribunals or Authorities shall wear the following as part of their dress which shall be sober and dignified:
Advocates other than Lady advocates
(a) a black buttoned up coat, chapkan, achkan, black sherwani and white bands with Advocates Gowns or
(b) a black open breast coat, white shirt, white collar stiff or soft and white bands with Advocates Gowns.
In either case long trousers (white, black stiped or grey) or Dhoti.
Lady Advocates
(a) Black full sleeve jacket or blouse, white collar, stiff or soft, with white bands, and Advocates Gowns.
White blouse, with or without collar, with white bands and with a black open breast coat Or
(b) Sarees or long skirts (white or black or any mellow or subdued color without any print or design) or flare (white, black or black striped, grey) or Punjabi dress Churidar- kurta or Salwar- kurta with or without dupatta (white or black) or traditional dress with black coat and bands.
Wearing of Advocates gown shall be optional except when appearing in the Supreme Court or in a High Courts.
Except in Supreme Court, High Courts during summer wearing of black coat is not mandatory.
It has been observed that the Advocates these days are not following the Professional attire as ruled down by the Bar Council of India.

So that day, I was there in NCLT, Mumbai to attend one matter, and I was waiting for my matter to reach and many other advocates were waiting. Everybody was waiting for the judge to preside. One lady advocate happened to enter the court room and suddenly all the eyes were upon her. Why so? Because its human tendency. She was wearing a black skirt, which is fine, but it was a short skirt, which is not. Its violative of the professional conduct and etiquette of the advocates. Not just that, but there were advocates who also had the same point of view, stating that the new generation advocates or upcoming advocates are not following the dress code as laid down. Further I couldnt help myself from not hearing the 2 Senior advocates talk about it. So many have the same view and opinion based on the violation of the rules. Advocates have been given a certain dress code, which is to be followed as it distinguishes them from the litigants present in the court. The dress code allotted to the practising advocates is entirely professional in order to reflect a powerful personality, representing their litigants. Hence it is to be followed by all the advocates in the profession.
The new upcoming lady advocates, being of a feminist kind of mindset, are seen wearing short skirts, one-piece, which are above the knee. No doubt, they are a part of formal wear, but that trend is particularly followed in the corporate offices and should not be made a practice in courts as they are violative of the rules laid down by the Bar Council of India. The dress code exclusively set for the Advocates is to distinguish them from the other present litigants in the courts.
Further the writer here would also like to mention about the feminist thoughts bore by the upcoming female advocates, that I myself am a feminist and like dressing up, but that liking should be restricted when it comes to courts. There are many High Court and District Court Judges too who dont allow to make submissions if any of the Advocate is not dressed up as per the Advocates dress code.
Justice Indu Malhotra, while being a newly appointed judge of the Honble Supreme Court, once visited the bar room once during the lunch time and observed the dressing sense of the Advocates, and based on her observation, tipped the young women lawyers that the professional attire was to be followed. The Bar Council of India rules too favour a sober and dignified dress code.
We see many Male Advocates who dress up well, in just black and white, as they do not have much options, and they just happen to ace the look just by following the dress code. But female advocates even after having many options, in order to explore the same, some are going beyond the described set of rules which wrecks the purity of our profession as we ourselves talk about about law, rules and regulations but fail to follow the same which are exclusively drafted for us. Not just this, but also both male and female advocates have been seen opting for black jeans at times, which doesnt really look good too.
Dressing up appropriately wouldnt reduce anybodys goodwill, but would rather create a better and strong impact of the professional, also creates a more impressive impact. To become professionally successful, one has to follow certain ethics, hence an Advocate has to follow the dress code as laid down, as we are in a very prestigious profession, which puts us advocates in a very responsible position each and every time we represent our litigants before the courts.
Further, respecting everyones right and choice to conduct themselves, it can be said or concluded that, unless any amendment is proposed to this rule, one should follow what has been laid down as it carries a great amount of weightage in professionalism.