What to do in a packed courtroom with more bodies than seats? It’s a recurring problem not just in Court 1 at the Old Bailey and at celeb libel trials, but in our staid commercial courts, too, where monster corporate legal teams frequently spill over into ‘public’ areas.

A favourite tactic is the old ‘reserved’ trick. But a courtroom is not a theatre. Court reporters, including Obiter, will interpret the sign ‘reserved’, even on headed notepaper, as an invitation.

A laptop left on the empty seat is more of a deterrent, but is a little risky. It might interest your data protection compliance officer.

If you’re a big cheese, you can send a junior to bag a pew until you swan in just before ‘Court rise!’. This will be noticed, however.

For we humbler types, the choice is between pinching a chair from elsewhere and squeezing it into the public area, or (clerks willing) sitting on the floor. If you’re lucky enough to have a remote link, of course, you can forget all this Hunger Games-style hunting and listen in comfort. These days the audio quality is often better, too.

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