How Do You Build Good Relationships With Court Staff and Clerks?

Attorneys spend enormous energy managing their relationships with judges and opposing counsel while overlooking the people who actually keep the courthouse running: the clerks, court staff, judicial assistants, and others who process filings, manage calendars, and control the daily machinery of the courts. These are among the most useful relationships an attorney can have, and they cost nothing but the courtesy and respect that too many attorneys fail to extend.

Good relationships with court staff make your entire practice smoother, and building them is simply a matter of treating people well, consistently. This article covers who these key people are, why the relationships matter so much, why so many attorneys handle them poorly, and how to build genuine goodwill with the staff who make the courts work, which pays off in ways that touch every matter you handle.

How Do You Build Good Relationships With Court Staff and Clerks?

Treat them with genuine respect and courtesy, learn their names, be patient and prepared, follow their procedures, and never take them for granted. Building these relationships is not about special favors; it is about being the kind of considerate, professional person that staff are glad to help and to see.

The foundation is simple decency applied consistently: treating clerks and staff as the capable professionals they are, being courteous even when you are stressed, coming prepared so you do not create extra work, and following their processes without complaint. Learning names and being genuinely pleasant goes a long way, because these are people accustomed to being ignored or condescended to by attorneys. Over time, consistent respect and courtesy build real goodwill. The whole approach is to treat the people who run the courthouse as you would want to be treated, which is both right and, as it happens, enormously beneficial to your practice.

Who Are the Key People?

Clerks, court staff, judicial assistants, and others who manage the courts' daily operations. The courthouse runs on a network of professionals beyond the judges, each of whom affects your practice. Knowing who they are helps you appreciate the relationships worth building:

• Court clerks, who process filings, manage records, and often answer procedural questions.
• Judicial assistants and staff, who manage judges' calendars and communications.
• Courtroom staff, such as bailiffs and clerks who keep proceedings running.
• Administrative staff, who handle the many logistics of the court.

Each of these people can make your interactions with the court smoother or harder, and each deserves respect as a professional doing important work. These are the relationships that quietly affect your day-to-day practice far more than most attorneys realize. It is also worth remembering that these professionals often have long tenures at the courthouse, outlasting many of the attorneys and even some of the judges who pass through, so a good relationship with a clerk you see regularly can serve you for years, while a bad first impression can follow you just as long. Investing in these relationships is investing in the durable, everyday infrastructure of your practice.

Why Do These Relationships Matter?

Because court staff make your practice smoother, know things you need, and extend goodwill to attorneys who treat them well. The people who run the courts control processes that affect every matter, and their willingness to help, or not, shapes how easily your work goes. Good relationships with them are a genuine practical asset.

Staff who know and respect you may answer your procedural questions patiently, help you navigate a process, alert you to something useful, or simply make your interactions pleasant rather than adversarial. They hold institutional knowledge that can save you time and trouble. And the goodwill you build makes the countless small interactions of practice easier. None of this means expecting improper favors; it means that being on good terms with the people who run the courthouse makes practicing there smoother in a hundred small ways. For an attorney who is in court regularly, these relationships meaningfully affect the quality of their practice life.

Why Are So Many Attorneys Bad at This?

Because they take staff for granted, condescend to them, or only engage when they need something. Many attorneys treat court staff as invisible functionaries rather than professionals, ignoring them, talking down to them, or being curt and demanding, especially when stressed. This is both disrespectful and self-defeating.

Some attorneys reserve their charm for judges and see no reason to be courteous to staff, not realizing how much those staff affect their practice and how much attorneys who behave that way are disliked. Others are only pleasant when they want something and rude otherwise, which staff see through immediately. This poor behavior is common enough that simply being consistently respectful makes you stand out positively. The low bar most attorneys set is an opportunity: because so many handle these relationships badly, the attorney who treats court staff with genuine courtesy earns goodwill and a reputation that distinguishes them, at no cost but basic decency.

What Should You Never Do?

Never condescend, blame, demand, or take your stress out on court staff. Certain behaviors reliably damage these relationships and your reputation, and avoiding them is as important as the positive habits. Court staff talk to each other and to the judges, so mistreating them has consequences.

Do not talk down to staff or treat them as beneath you, do not blame them for problems or delays that are not their fault, do not make imperious demands or expect them to drop everything for you, and never take your frustration out on them when a matter is going badly. These behaviors mark you as someone unpleasant to deal with, and staff remember. They can also reach judges, since staff and judges are close, so rudeness to staff can quietly harm your standing with the court itself. Treating court staff poorly is both wrong and damaging to your practice, which is why the professional attorney extends them the same courtesy they would want, especially under pressure.

How Does This Reflect on Your Professionalism?

How you treat court staff is a visible measure of your character that judges and colleagues notice. The way an attorney treats the people who cannot do anything for them, or who are lower in the hierarchy, reveals a great deal, and people pay attention. Judges in particular often notice how attorneys treat their staff, and it colors their view of the attorney.

An attorney respected by court staff builds a reputation as a professional, considerate person, which reaches judges, colleagues, and the broader legal community, while one known for mistreating staff earns the opposite. This reputation affects how you are perceived and how others want to work with you, including whether colleagues refer to you and enjoy collaborating. Treating court staff well is therefore not just practically useful but part of the professional reputation that underlies referrals and relationships throughout your career. Being the kind of attorney who treats everyone with respect is both right and a foundation of the reputation a practice depends on. A strong professional reputation is what draws referrals, and a network helps you turn it into work. Create your free account on Overture to connect with vetted attorneys and build the referral relationships that a reputation for professionalism earns.