In my many years of practicing family law, I have had many experiences with judges. Early in my career, I clerked for judges in Wayne County, Michigan, which is the county seat where the city of Detroit is located. I learned quickly that there are all kinds of judges. Sometimes you’d get someone who cared and sometimes you’d find those who were just marking time. I would have some judges tell me that they had a certain result that they wanted and that I was to find the law to support it. A good judge will follow the facts and the law to help you seek justice through your divorce, not the other way around.
In one case, I was called into chambers by the judge in a divorce. We were discussing the issues that were in controversy. With both attorneys present, the judge pulled out a coin from his pocket and said, “Call heads or tails.” This is not the way a case should be decided.
Family law is one of the most complicated legal areas. It is made much more difficult because of the tremendous emotional overlay that goes hand and hand with the facts in every divorce or custody dispute. Being a family law judge is not easy!
I have written on the topic of what people should expect from a judge, and more and more I feel that judges must be more user-friendly. By this I mean that people need to understand what is going on in their cases and why things happen. Too often, there is a mysterious overlay over everything that can be incomprehensible to attorneys as well as the clients who are in the middle of the trauma of a divorce.
Here are some points that I believe are important.
Justice in Family Law: 6 Things to Expect from a Good Judge
1. Court should start on time
If court is set for 8:30 a.m., it is wrong for a judge not to take the bench before 9:30 a.m. or 10:00 a.m. In Wayne County, there was a former judge who would frequently take the bench over an hour after the normal start of court time. In this situation, the attorneys and litigants were waiting nervously for court to start. The public often does not understand that a lot of events take place in the judge’s chambers and often a late start is unavoidable.
2. A Judge Should be in Control of the Courtroom
There is a lot of emotion in a family law matter, and a good judge should control his or her courtroom and cool things down. Judges should not let attorneys attack each other or their clients without trying to bring things under control. Some attorneys will spend a half-hour covering matters that should be done in five or 10 minutes. This is where a judge should rein the attorneys and litigants in. They should say “I have read your pleadings or motion and is there anything that you can add?”
3. A Good Judge Should Be Decisive
In the past, I have seen judges who do not make a decision. There is an old saying that justice delayed is justice denied. I have found over the years that attorneys and clients want a decision. Even if I disagree with the judge’s ruling, I would rather have the ruling than no ruling. The ruling should be clearly made with the reasoning for it being spelled out as well. With a ruling, at least the parties can move on to the next part of the case or to the next chapter of their lives.
4. A Good Judge Should Be Accessible
Good attorneys and good judges should be problem solvers. Over the years, I have found that a judge who will meet with the attorneys and sometimes even talk to the litigants about an issue were the good ones. They will often state that I usually do this in a particular situation unless the facts in a hearing or trial point me in a different direction. With this information, attorneys can often resolve an issue or a case because they have been given a reading from the judge and can see “the handwriting on the wall”. Lately, I have found judges who refuse to meet with attorneys or to discuss the case other than formally on the record in open court. This is not a good thing. Sometimes an informal meeting in the judge’s chambers can clear the air and work wonders in a case.
5. Most Divorces and Other Family Law Matters Should Be Settled
If a judge is good, they will tell you that he or she will make decisions that impact heavily on your lives, and once you go in to trial or a hearing, you lose control of your lives. It is always better to resolve a case through negotiations or mediation. Trial should be a last resort. The judge does not know you or your issues and must rely on testimony and evidence, which is often only the tip of the iceberg.
6. When A Case Must go to Trial, the Litigant and Attorneys Should Be Granted Their Day in Court
Some judges do not want to try cases and will constantly adjourn the case. Some cases need to at least have a trial started. Some judges will allow litigants to get what they want off of their chests, and in many of these situations once the parties know that they have been heard, either the trial will proceed or a settlement can be achieved, even in the middle of trial.
Finally, it is critical to remember that attorneys and judges are helping people going through a divorce or other family law matter at the worst times in their lives. They are suffering, and often there are no good or easy answers. A calm guiding hand and leadership can do wonders to help people in these situations.
We have many wonderful hard-working judges who do everything that they can to help people seek justice. These judges should be applauded.
These are some of my thoughts on this important issue. Please share yours with me.
I had a terribly biased judge during my divorce. Ten years post divorce my now 20 yr old son states that men most often get the short end of the stick in a divorce. I was outraged that he would say such a thing after what we had been through. I reminded him that within 2 yrs of my divorce, 4 other women in our subdivision got divorced and ALL of us lost everything (including our homes), with most decisions in favor of the husbands even though all five of the husbands were cheating and initiated the divorces…and there were children involved…in all cases left with the mothers that got far less child support than they were entitled to. My son asked me to review what I said. i looked at him blankly and he prodded me along with this statement. “You all lived within a few blocks of one another…you all had the same judge. It is clear that this judge had a problem with women…this is not what usually happens in family courts across the country.” I was devastated. I had never looked at it like this even though I knew a state representative in our district was collecting data on this particular judge and had in fact interviewed me. Looking back it seems unbelievable that the system knew that this judge was ruining lives but the system was not powerful enough to stop him.This is why college can be so important to young people. It elevates them so that they can see the big picture. My son is one year away from a dual degree in economics and political science. He wants to be a lawyer.
Your son is correct. Nationwide, courts are extremely biased against men. My mentally ill ex-wife got $96,000 in excess pendente lite alimony (over and above what she was legally entitled to) because an incompetent, lazy judge didn’t want to do the work a trial entailed, and kept adjourning the case. My life savings were drained and I have no money left to send my kids to college. And the icing on the cake was the female judge refused to read my ex-wife’s psychiatric treatment records which we had subpoenaed. She just wanted the case settled. So it got settled, and my kids and I are trying to live with a psychopath who is still in our lives because of a corrupt, dysfunctional system.
You unfortunately describe what to look for in “good judge” but fail to state that there are few of them, nor do you discuss what to do about a “bad judge.” The sad reality is that in many jurisdictions (especially here in NY), there are more “bad judges” than “good” ones.
I would respectfully suggest that you and your colleagues in the legal profession need to provide the public with information about what recourse we have when we have a “bad” judge (ie- one who violates the parameters you outlined in the article). You also should look into tightening professional disciplinary rules to discourage attorneys from “churning” cases.
For example, the two judges I had in my divorce case violated every principle you outlined. Repeated adjournments and long delays to get court dates led to my life savings being drained. An excessive pendente lite award gave my ex-wife $96,000 in excess alimony over the 2.5 years course of my ordeal in court (over and above what she was really entitled to). When we asked the judge to reconsider the award, he wrote, “The remedy for an excessive pendente lite award is a speedy trial.” Then he set the next court date for six months later. Family court judges are even worse.
As a dental professional myself, we take the matter of professional discipline seriously. Your profession (at least here in NY) doesn’t. Stories of attorneys who financially abuse clients are legion. What is your profession going to do about it?
I would love to see stories in this newsletter about legal malpractice, and how to file complaints with the State Commission on Judicial Conduct about “bad judges.” You attorneys should file these complaints as well, possibly through the Bar Association so there wouldn’t be retribution from the judges towards individual attorneys.