Understanding the Importance of Timeliness in Court
You’re running late to court. What do you do? My name is Carl Birkhead. I’m a family law attorney with Wirth Law Office in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Let me help you make law easy by walking you through just a couple of things that you can do if, unfortunately, you’re running late to court.
I have this happen a lot. And it’s not just clients. Now and then, attorneys run late also. It happens, but you’ve got to try to mitigate that as much as you possibly can.
Common Reasons for Being Late
I’ve said in other videos, that the best thing that you can do, is one of my top five best courtroom practices, don’t be late. It’s a given. It’s kind of a no-brainer. But unfortunately, just because that’s good advice doesn’t mean that’s always advice that can be followed.
Traffic comes up. I had a client lose his keys one time. People get into car wrecks. And sometimes, unfortunately, you just forget. So here’s what you do.
Steps to Take When Running Late
If you’re one of our clients, then you’re going to be getting texts and emails reminding you about your court date leading up to that day. So hopefully, you’re not going to forget. But even if you don’t forget, life happens. What you do is call our office or call your attorney’s office, even if you don’t hire us.
Let your attorney’s office know that you’re running late and that you’re going to be there when you’re going to be there. So that way, if I’m sitting in court looking at the judge saying, I don’t know where my client is, my client’s probably going to get a warrant issued for their arrest.
But if I’m able to look at the judge and say, Hey, judge, unfortunately, my client is running late. They let our office know, forgot their keys. They’re going to be here in 10 minutes. Then the court at least knows you’re not just blowing them off. Life happens. They’ll move on to other cases on the docket, and they’ll come back to you when you get there most likely. Most likely.
Understanding Court Protocols
Now and then, the courts just won’t want to wait. But still, if it’s something where your attendance is pretty rock solid, you’re usually there every time, you’re usually there on time. But just, again, life happened.
What the court will do is they’ll take a warrant under advisement. What this means is that the court will know that, hey, you weren’t there this time. But given that you’ve been there before, you’ve been pretty good about showing up, they’re not going to issue a warrant right now.
They’re going to take it under advisement so that the next time there’s a court date if you don’t show up again, you will have a warrant out for your arrest. Like I said, just let your lawyer know what’s going on so that way your lawyer can advise the court and handle things accordingly.
Final Thoughts and Advice
Try not to be late, but if you’re going to be late, do everything you can to make sure that the court’s aware. And if you can’t get a hold of your lawyer’s office, call the court clerk’s office. They’ll direct you to the judge’s office, and you’ll be able to at least leave a message saying that you’re running behind.
Schedule Your Initial Strategy Session
If you’re worried about an upcoming court date and you’re not exactly sure what to do, please don’t hesitate to give our office a call. My name is Carl Birkhead. I’m a family and criminal lawyer with Wirth Law Office, and I want to help you to make law easy. Contact us at 918-879-1681 to schedule a low-cost initial strategy session and ensure you’re prepared for your court appearance. Thank you.
