What do you do if you lose your keys, wallet, sunglasses or briefcase at the courthouse?  Where do you go?  Who do you talk to?  I had to find out after losing my car keys at court one day.

My five unwritten rules of court for this are:

1. Always ask for help. Ask at security gate whether the guards found anything.

2. Ask someone to tell you where the courthouse lost-and-found is located.

3. Ask the people at the lost-and-found whether someone turned in your item. Be sure to give them as much information as possible like where you were when you noticed you were missing the item. The more information you can give, the better.

4. Ask the lost-and-found people for their phone number if you cannot find the item on that visit. Then call them later in the day to see if some good soul turned in your stuff.

And most important:

5.  Thank everyone you asked for help.