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45 Gonz. L. Rev. 209 (2009-2010)
Beyond a Reasonable Doubt: One Size Does Not Fit All When it Comes to Courtroom Attire for Women

handle is hein.journals/gonlr45 and id is 211 raw text is: Beyond a Reasonable Doubt: One Size Does Not Fit All When it Comes to Courtroom Attire for Women Maureen A. Howard* TABLE OF CONTENTS I. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................. 209 II. CONVENTIONAL ADVICE ON CLOTHING AND ADVOCACY.............................210 III. CONVENTIONAL ADVICE ON CREDIBILITY AND ADVOCACY.........................214 IV. WHEN ADVOCACY ADVICE CONFLICTS: CLOTHING OR CREDIBILiTY9........215 A. Credibility Trumps Clothing Guidelines Every lime.............................216 B. Extreme Individuality Can Damage Credibility.....................................219 C. An IndividualApproach to Courtroom Attire.........................................220 V . C ON CLU SION .....................................................................................................223 Fashion condemns us to many follies; the greatest is to make oneself its slave. Napoleon I, Maxims (1804-1815) 1. INTRODUCTION Trial Day. You wake up with adrenaline flowing through your veins. You are ready. You know the facts. You've prepped your witnesses. You've practiced your opening statement. As you get ready to walk out the door, you run through a mental checklist. Briefcase? Check. Pocket briefs on evidentiary issues that may pop up? Check. Cell phone numbers of witnesses in case you have to call them out of order? Check. And so you head out the door. But wait! You forgot to check the mirror. Yes, the mirror. Because it is not just your brain that the jurors (and the judge) will be checking out over the next few days. Like it or not, physical appearance is a factor in the work of a trial lawyer, regardless of gender.' Although empirical research suggests that immutable physical attributes may play a role in the jury's perception of an individual,2 this essay * Maureen A. Howard is an Assistant Professor of Law and the Director of Trial Advocacy at University of Washington School of Law. 1. Research has shown that we automatically assign to good-looking individuals such favorable traits as talent, kindness, honesty, and intelligence.... ROBERT B. CIALDINI, INFLUENCE: SCIENCE AND PRACTICE 148 (4th ed. 2001). 2. Empirical studies confirm that physical attractiveness is a benefit across all life experiences from politics, to education, to the workplace, to the courtroom. See, e.g., id. at 148-50 (citing empirical research studies); MICHAEL J. SAKS & RElD HASTIE, SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY IN COURT 156-60 (1978) (citing several studies confirming that attractiveness is important on its own and that attractive defendants were found guilty less often and sentenced less harshly). 209

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