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Re:Physical attractiveness bias in the legal system (2017) by rayiner on Monday August 03, 2020 @07:55PM (#24044942)
You don’t want to be a dressed to the nines Manhattan lawyer in a Texas courtroom (or really, anywhere but maybe Manhattan and Los Angeles).

https://abovethelaw.com/2017/05/at-lunch-with-david-boies-20...

Re: David Boies (who is a prominent Manhattan attorney):

> Part of the David Boies legend is his rejection of high fashion. He’s a millionaire many times over, and many aspects of his lifestyle reflect what I’m guessing is a nine-figure net worth — his primary residence, an 8,000-square-foot mansion on almost 10 acres; an $8 million pied-à-terre here in New York City, at the Sherry-Netherland Hotel; and a racing yacht, because you’re nobody until you have a yacht. But his wealth doesn’t go into his wardrobe. He eschews Prada and Patek Philippe in favor of navy blue suits from Sears or Lands’ End, inexpensive plastic wristwatches (worn over his sleeve), and what look like black sneakers (but are actually walking shoes by Merrell).

Re:Physical attractiveness bias in the legal system (2017) by haecceity on Monday August 03, 2020 @08:09PM (#24045041)
To people who think the point of fashion is to imitate people with higher status, fashion loses its value if your name carries status for you.
Re:Physical attractiveness bias in the legal system (2017) by roenxi on Tuesday August 04, 2020 @12:27AM (#24046596)
People who think that a little bit off. The point of fashion is so people don't mistake you for being a little lower status than you are. So high status people can afford to wear clothes with holes in them, because nobody is going to mistake them for people who are poor (royalty can wear what they want, Queen Elizabeth looks like she just picks a colour to me). That can't be imitated by ordinary people, because they would just look poor.

Also, fashion isn't for strangers. I mean, I don't know anything about what is fashionable. Nearly nothing at all. So obviously stranger can't impress me with expensive clothes because I can't detect it. The situation is similar with most fashions which are signals for inside an in crowd.

It is like a developer putting "Haskell" or "Scheme" on a resume. The goal isn't to impress randoms in HR who don't know what a Haskell is and are suspicious of scheming programmers. It is to signal within a group of semi-peers who don't specifically know who you are.

Re:Physical attractiveness bias in the legal system (2017) by rayiner on Monday August 03, 2020 @08:15PM (#24045084)
Nobody on a jury knows David Boies, or any other lawyer, by reputation.
Re:Physical attractiveness bias in the legal system (2017) by perl4ever on Monday August 03, 2020 @08:53PM (#24045341)
I have been on a jury, and I do, so it's possible.

He did represent Al Gore before the Supreme Court, although I suppose that's ancient history now. And he was involved in the SCO vs. Linux stuff.

Re:Physical attractiveness bias in the legal system (2017) by JorgeGT on Monday August 03, 2020 @09:02PM (#24045415)
I'm not even American and I know him for his role in the Theranos affair...
Re:Physical attractiveness bias in the legal system (2017) by klyrs on Monday August 03, 2020 @08:20PM (#24045121)
But they can sure as hell read subtle social cues that occur between the lawyers and the judge. I'd reason that those cues have an outsized impact on how the jury rules.
Re:Physical attractiveness bias in the legal system (2017) by cafard on Tuesday August 04, 2020 @09:00AM (#24049472)
After he was Bill Clinton's attorney in televised impeachment hearings? You have to remember that the jurors' office casts a wide net. With the worst will in the world, the attorneys can't strike everyone who has heard of someone.
Re:Physical attractiveness bias in the legal system (2017) by irrational on Monday August 03, 2020 @10:12PM (#24045821)
I’ll provide an opposite anecdote from the other responses. I have no idea who David Boies is.
Re:Physical attractiveness bias in the legal system (2017) by TheOtherHobbes on Tuesday August 04, 2020 @01:49AM (#24047037)
Re:Physical attractiveness bias in the legal system (2017) by rtpg on Monday August 03, 2020 @09:54PM (#24045701)
I mean... David Boies is a pretty famous lawyer! There is likely a huge amount of people who recognize the name, even if they don't know anything about the person. The guy has been on cover of magazines!

Maybe _everyone_ on a jury is filtered out to only take people completely disconnected from society but.... probably not.

(case in point: many people on this website are not in legal professions yet recognize the name)

Re:Physical attractiveness bias in the legal system (2017) by dungdang on Monday August 03, 2020 @11:03PM (#24046116)
talk about disconnected from society. a lot of people have seen him on a magazine or heard the name on the news. along with about 20 other names. every day. for decades. and the name is forgotten an hour later, with a thousand other names.

as far as your point, the 1% of people here reading recognized the name. didn't know why, then googled and remembered. the jury is not here. it's '12 random people from the dmv,' and they don't recognize it, nor will they care to google it. they don't even know who steve jobs is, and won't google it on their iphone.

Re:Physical attractiveness bias in the legal system (2017) by rubber_duck on Monday August 03, 2020 @08:17PM (#24045097)
>fashion loses its value

Value to who ?

Re:Physical attractiveness bias in the legal system (2017) by haecceity on Monday August 03, 2020 @08:55PM (#24045350)
The wearer.
Re:Physical attractiveness bias in the legal system (2017) by ajuc on Tuesday August 04, 2020 @06:34AM (#24048552)
At that point you're just showing off how many norms you can ignore.
Re:Physical attractiveness bias in the legal system (2017) by paultopia on Monday August 03, 2020 @10:45PM (#24046011)
I refuse to believe he wears sneaker-looking things in court...there are some very strict judges out there.