Washington State Supreme Court
Bailiff's Oral Argument Guidelines

Welcome to the Washington State Supreme Court. Here are some guidelines that will help you during oral argument:

Counsel Tables

The counsel tables are not assigned and are distributed on a first come first serve basis. Only licensed attorneys or pro se parties are allowed to sit at the counsel tables for oral arguments. There are extra chairs available if needed. Please ask the Bailiff for assistance.

Podium Procedures

The microphone at the podium is a fixed flat microphone and no adjustment is needed. Please do not step away from the podium while addressing the Justices because this will make it difficult for your argument to be heard. These proceedings are recorded by TVW and sound quality is important.

Timing Procedures

Please advise the Bailiff how much argument time you are reserving for your opening argument and your rebuttal. You must also advise the Bailiff if you are splitting the assigned argument time (opening, response, or rebuttal) with another lawyer. If your opening argument time goes over your requested time, that time will be deducted from your reserved rebuttal time. If you split your opening argument with co-counsel and the opening lawyer goes over the allotted time, then that time will be deducted from co-counsel. On those rare occasions when the opening argument is shorter that the requested time, then that unused time will be added to co-counsel in cases where time is split or to the rebuttal time when only one attorney is arguing.

The same procedures apply if you are assigned the response argument in a case and are splitting time with co-counsel. If the first counsel goes over the reserved time then that time will be deducted from the second assigned counsel time. If the first counsel goes under the reserved time that time will be added to the second counsel.

The podium is equipped with a 5-minute amber warning light that will illuminate when there is 5 minutes left in your allotted time. (Opening statement, response, or rebuttal). There is a red light that will illuminate when your allotted time has expired. There is also a countdown timer on the podium that will indicate how much time you have left in your requested argument time.

Please ask the Bailiff if you need any clarifications on any argument procedures.

Guy Rosser
Bailiff - Washington State Supreme Court
Guy.Rosser@courts.wa.gov 360-357-2074