18. Formality before the court

1. A solicitor must not, in the presence of any of the parties or solicitors, deal with a court on terms of informal personal familiarity which may reasonably give the appearance that the solicitor has special favour with the court.

Commentary

18.1 Terms of informal personal familiarity

Solicitors should be mindful of respecting the independence and integrity of the administration of justice and deal with the court formally, rather than using terms of personal familiarity with its representatives. Solicitors should avoid being alone with Judge or Magistrate from the commencement of the days hearing or application until the conclusion of the matter, except with the prior consent of one’s opponent. If the opponent grants consent, the solicitor should not raise matters with the court outside that which has been agreed.

A New South Wales decision warned against 'salutations by advocates' and advised that this conduct should be completely abandoned in all contentious litigation': Wilson v Department of Human Services – re Anna [2010] NSWSC 1489, [106]. In the case, the solicitor said 'Good Morning' both in announcing his appearance to the Bench and at the beginning of his cross-examination of the witness. Palmer J noted that this may have caused a 'misapprehension in the mind of' one of the self-represented litigants of the case.⁶⁵

65 A paper delivered by Judge C F Wall QC, ‘Good morning, Your Honour’ to the Central Queensland Law Association Conference (26 – 28 October 2012) http://ethics.qls.com.au