Colorado-based family law attorney Edra J. Pollin has posted some excellent advice bout what not to do during your divorce trial on the Huffington Post’s Divorce blog.

Several of Pollin’s tips could all be said to generally fall under “treat the court with respect” category: dress appropriately, pay attention to the proceedings, do not roll your eyes in response to testimony from your spouse, and  DO NOT use your phone in the courtroom.  Treating the court, the judge, and the other parties with respect goes a long way towards helping your establish credibility in the eyes of the judge.

For spouses in custody disputes, Pollin cautions that you should be prepared to be asked about, and to list, positive things about the other spouse’s parenting skills.  This definitely does not come naturally for a lot of estranged spouses, but as Pollin notes, “if you can’t say anything positive about your spouse to the court, you’re probably not saying anything positive about your spouse to the kids.” This is a question that you may be asked more than once during your divorce, especially if you have a parenting evaluator or GAL appointed.

Check out all of Pollin’s tips here.