The delicate question of how to prompt a judge to, perhaps, if it’s no trouble, hurry along with their ruling has been a major talking point among lawyers on social media this week (when Mr Musk allows such discussion, you understand).

The topic was brought up by barrister Catherine Rowlands who asked Twitter for tips about how to nudge the bench into handing down a long-awaited reserved judgment. A friendly email to the court clerk had been stonewalled, while more forthright correspondence had yet to receive a reply.

Many lawyers from across different jurisdictions replied with their own horror stories of long waits for judges to give their verdicts. In some cases the delay had been so long that the facts brought out at trial had changed.

Another member of the bar recounted a case where the judge still had not produced a ruling after 18 months. The parties could not afford the costs of a second trial and so wrote to him asking if they could take out medical insurance on him rather than incur the costs of another trial.

Of course, the risk for lawyers in being too pushy (or even complaining to higher authorities) is that you get the judge’s back up. One anonymised account from the US explained how a partner in their firm had emailed a gentle question about when the decision was forthcoming, having waited more than a year. The decision did indeed appear the next day - with a verdict in favour of their opponent.

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