In this article, we explore how a group of judges describe their experiences with the lack of knowledge displayed by lawyers who litigate before their courts. Through narrative interviews with five judges from the module of the National Specialized Justice System for the Protection and Punishment of Violence against Women and Members of the Family Group (SNEJ), we find that litigators are portrayed as professionals who do not do their homework, fail to prepare, lack even the minimum knowledge required before entering a hearing, and normalize their own ignorance. In response to these situations, judges present themselves as figures of authority who seek to preserve the integrity of hearings by giving lawyers a few minutes to read the case file, guiding them so they can fulfill their role, reprimanding or firmly exhorting them, or even urging defendants to change lawyers, among other measu...

In this article, we explore how a group of judges describe their experiences with the lack of knowledge displayed by lawyers who litigate before their courts. Through narrative interviews with five judges from the module of the National Specialized Justice System for the Protection and Punishment of Violence against Women and Members of the Family Group (SNEJ), we find that litigators are portrayed as professionals who do not do their homework, fail to prepare, lack even the minimum knowledge required before entering a hearing, and normalize their own ignorance. In response to these situations, judges present themselves as figures of authority who seek to preserve the integrity of hearings by giving lawyers a few minutes to read the case file, guiding them so they can fulfill their role, reprimanding or firmly exhorting them, or even urging defendants to change lawyers, among other measu...