PROCEDURES AND TIME FRAMES
Domestic Relations
Procedures Of Your Case
What is a Dissolution of Marriage Marital vs. Non-Marital Property Issues Regarding Children Maintenance or Alimony Attorney's Fees Procedures and Time Frame Settlement of a Case Our firm has a system for bringing divorce proceedings to conclusion. We divide divorce proceedings into certain elements or stages: (1) data gathering; (2) categorizing data; (3) evaluating data; and (4) settlement negotiations or trial. First, we gather data from both you and your spouse. Data gathering from your spouse is done in several ways. We are entitled to have your spouse produce documents for our inspection and copying. Your spouse may be required to answer questions ("interrogatories") in writing, under oath. Your spouse may also be required to appear at a discovery deposition at my office. At which, your spouse will be required to answer questions under oath. We can also subpoena data from others, such as employers, banks, etc. After we have the necessary data, we categorize it according to subject matter. Then we evaluate the data. As to some assets, such as real estate, the evaluation will involve obtaining an appraisal of the asset so that we can determine its value. Once the evaluation process is completed, we usually produce a memo that will list all assets, debts, and income. A copy of this memo will be given to you, and the next step will be to recommend a settlement to you. Once you and our office have arrived at a settlement position, we will attempt to negotiate a settlement with your spouse. If a fair settlement cannot be reached, we will try the case. Time Frames You should know the time frames that are involved for the above stages of the case. Discovery, that is, data gathering from your spouse, generally cannot start until approximately one month after the divorce proceedings are initiated. The data-gathering process usually takes two to three months. When we seek data (discovery) from the other side, they generally have thirty days in which to comply. The first data to be gathered are documents, and on the basis of those documents, we may choose to take your spouse's discovery deposition. The length of time for this first stage, the data-gathering stage, will vary in accordance to the degree of cooperation we receive from your spouse and your spouse's attorney and the extent and complexity of the data. The next stages, those of categorizing the data and evaluating it, generally will take one to two months, depending on the complexity of the data. If a number of appraisals are required, however, it may take longer. The final stage, that of negotiations, generally varies in length from one to three months, depending on how far apart the initial settlement positions of the parties are. If at the initial stage of negotiations it appears that the parties' settlement positions are significantly far apart, then we will ask the court to set the case for trial, or pretrial conference. Currently, the waiting period to bring a case to trial, from the time the request for a trial date is made, is approximately three months. If the case is settled, however, the court date can be obtained virtually any time. The above time frames are related to you only so that you have an idea of usual time frames. Keep in mind, however, that each case is unique. We have brought some cases to conclusion in a substantially shorter period of time than outlined above, whereas other cases have taken longer. Pretrial Conference (An Aid to Negotiating Settlement) The waiting period for bringing a case to pretrial conference is less than the waiting period for bringing a case to trial. A pretrial conference normally is an informal session for the purpose of attempting to settle the case with the judge's aid. The pretrial conference is normally conducted in the judge's chambers, rather than in the courtroom. The pretrial conference is started with each lawyer informing the judge of his client's version of the facts of the case and arguing in behalf of his client's proposal for settlement. The judge will then make recommendations to the lawyers. During the time that the lawyers are in chambers with the judge, the clients are generally waiting in the courthouse hallway. After the judge makes his recommendations, each lawyer takes the recommendation to his client to obtain the client's views on the settlement. Keep in mind that the judge's recommendations are simply that, recommendations. The judge's recommendations are, however, generally persuasive. If the same facts come out as a result of a trial as were represented at the pretrial conference, the judge is likely to rule the same way. Sometimes the recommendations of the judge are totally accepted by the parties, but other times there are disagreements that require further negotiations between the lawyers and the parties. In such cases, either the lawyers shuttle back and forth between the clients and each other, or both the clients and lawyers appear in the judge's chambers in an effort to come to an agreement on all points. © 2007 Joseph M. Lucas & Associates, L.L.C. |
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