Crossword Genius

Take letters for reading out in court (3,2)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

use up

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'take' is the definition.
(I know that take can be written as use up)

'letters for reading out in court' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'in court' could be 'up' (up before a judge) and 'up' is found within the answer.
The remaining letters 'use' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for use up that I've seen before include "Entirely consume" , "Finish, exhaust" , "Consume (stocks)" , "Completely consume" , "Exhaust (resources)" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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