Appearance did make a difference

6 min read

I had a court hearing in the city centre to appear on behalf of an appellant. I read the case documents thoroughly, including the witness statement of the appellant. In the statement it was averred that he was the manager of a garment factory. The outcome of the case depended entirely on the testimony to be adduced by him in the court, and the weight the Judge would attach to his witness statement already served.

As usual, in the morning I went by car which I parked in the multi-story car park, five-minute walk from the court.

I was there at about 9 am. Our case was at number 2 in the morning list. I sat in one of the conference rooms situated on the street side of the waiting area. I informed the receptionist that as I had never met the client before, it would be appreciated if he could guide him to my conference room.

At about 9.20 am, I saw through the glass window a group of people of South Asian ethnicity being directed by the receptionist towards me. We had to fetch more chairs from the next room.

One of them, who looked like a headman, introduced them one by one, including Mr Chughtai, who was the appellant.

I stared at my client numbly. He had decidedly down-at-heel appearance. I knew his age, which was 51, but he looked older for his age.

I was disappointed. He was purporting to be the manager of a factory. I could clearly foretell that, as it stood, I would proceed with the appeal hearing on a wing and a prayer.

I enquired from the headman:

“Could you not find better clothes for him to wear?”

I added:

“I don’t say assuredly it would have an adverse impact on the outcome of the case. But the point is that while appearing in a court of law you’re expected to act with proper decorum. More importantly, it is stated in his witness statement that he is a factory manager. He does not even look a factory worker, let alone a manager. That would taint his credibility. If it turns out that he is not a credible witness, the appeal is bound to fail. As far I am concerned, my job is to assist the court in reaching a decision in his favour.”

The headman genteelly sought my advice.

I opined:

“I’ll apply to the Judge to stand down the case to be listed in the afternoon. If the application is granted, which I’m sure it will be, he would’ve enough time to dress up properly, There’s no guarantee we’ll win the case”.

The senior man agreed to abide by the advice.

I contacted the court clerk to convey to the Judge the application for standing down the case.

The application was granted.

I suggested to the headman:

“You exit the court building and turn right. Walk straight for about five minutes, and you’ll reach an alleyway. Enter that and after a minute you’ll see a barber shop on the right. After his haircut you return, and you’ll see the Debenham Store in the corner. You buy new clothes for him.”

I reiterated my earlier warning that it would cost money, and I should not be blamed if we still lost the appeal. His appearance and the testimony would help us to win.

They agreed and left pronto.

At about 12 noon, I went out to have lunch.

I was back at 12.45 pm. At about 1 pm, I noticed that a man, smartly dressed, gentlemanly strolled straight bypassing the conference room. His face looked familiar. A few minutes after the group retuned but the client was missing. I asked about him. The headman told me that he was ahead of them. For a minute or so I was worried, lest he was lost in the crowd. He entered the room smiling. He was the one whom I had seen a few minutes earlier. He had gone to the toilets.

He was very much a changed man. The unkempt beard had disappeared.

I was told by the clerk that the Judge would hear the appeal at 2 pm.

We entered the court room. The Judge looked at the appellant carefully. Though my client’s name was not easy to pronounce, but the Judge did it meticulously. He said:

“Mr Chughtai, I’m sorry your case was supposed to be heard in the morning, but your representative had submitted the application to postpone the hearing to the afternoon”.

He continued:

“I’ve read your appeal papers, including your statement, and I know fully well your case. Your legal representative will require you to confirm the contents of your witness statement. As it is quite comprehensive, I don’t think he would ask you to add anything more to it. Then the opposite side’s legal representative will cross-examine you. I might ask some clarificatory questions. Thereafter, I’ll hear submissions by both the representatives.”

The opposing representative did not ask many meaningful questions. But, my client murmured the answers quite correctly. He seemed quite au fait with his job. His hurriedly changed personality in tandem with his answers in the cross-examination struck home.

Normally, the determination is sent to the instructing solicitors later by post/email, but our appeal was allowed there and then. I could clearly see that my client was so enraptured that he was trying to choke back tears of joy.

The appearance accentuated his personality and it did make a difference.

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