Since time immemorial, lawyers have used this ritual greeting to open their remarks to a judge or an appellate panel of judges, including the Supreme Court. It’s precise origin is unknown. It is used universally, but seems to be more commonplace in courtrooms in the south. I routinely begin my remarks with this introduction, and have done so in courts across the country starting with my earliest days as a trial lawyer.
“May it please the court” is a demonstration of respect and shows appreciation for the opportunity to address the court. It is also a verbal recognition that a courtroom is a solemn place of justice where proper decorum should be observed. For me, it is a subtle recognition of Paul’s reminder in Romans 13 that the judge is a minister of God for good.
The Supreme Court takes a formal approach in its Guide for Counsel. The Court opens with the statement after the gavel is struck three times: “The Honorable, the Chief Justice and the Associate Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States. Oyez! Oyez! Oyez! All persons having business before the Honorable, the Supreme Court of the United States, are admonished to draw near and give their attention, for the Court is now sitting. God save the United States and this Honorable Court.” Counsel is instructed then to address the Court: “Mr. Chief Justice and may it please the Court . . .” I recall my first time before the Supreme Court. Just as the last words “God save this Honorable Court” were uttered, a gentleman in the back of the courtroom stood and began shouting: “Murderers! Murderers!” The court had just affirmed a death penalty case out of Florida the day before, and this protester had managed to make his way peacefully into the courtroom. Without so much as flinting, the Chief Justice nodded to the courtroom deputies who perfunctorily seized the man removing him from the courtroom. Business as usual. Decorum restored.
Some practitioners argue that the legal profession should abandon this time-honored phrase as anachronistic. Personally, I believe that our profession has lost some of the civility that it had in years past. Perhaps I am a bit old fashioned, but I think we should hold on to anything that maintains a respect for the court and the process, anachronistic or not. It also signals to the clients that this is a serious, somber endeavor, and different from the day-to-day.
Bryan A. Garner, a widely-respected legal author and editor-in-chief of Black’s Law Dictionary, recently asked active judges whether they felt the phrase “May it please the Court” was an outdated formalism or a welcome sign of professionalism. The general consensus was summed up by Ninth Circuit judge Susan Graber: “Its absence is always more notable than its presence, so I prefer lawyers saying May it please the Court.” Though the phrase is “totally pointless,” it’s also “largely harmless, so it’s a good way to get started,” added Ninth Circuit Chief Judge Alex Kozinski. Chief Judge Frank Easterbrook of the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago noted, “It may help some lawyers get started; icebreakers have their place.” And, said Judge Jon O. Newman of the Second Circuit in New York City, “sometimes it’s the only thing a lawyer says that doesn’t get immediately challenged.”
Larry L. Crain
