Upright before going to court (5)
I believe the answer is:
erect
'upright' is the definition.
(similar in meaning)
'before going to court' is the wordplay.
'before' becomes 'ere' (poetic term for 'before').
'going to' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'court' becomes 'ct' (abbreviation used in road names).
'ere'+'ct'='ERECT'
(Other definitions for erect that I've seen before include "Rigidly upright" , "Upright or vertical" , "Build, upright" , "Upright; put up" , "Found" .)