Court Is Intimidating

Stepping into a courtroom can be very intimidating. For many members of the public, in

a family law litigation case, this might be the first time they have ever been in a

courtroom. They may have seen television shows that portray the courtroom. The

judge sits at an elevated desk and counsel sit at counsel table with their respective

clients. There is typically a court reporter who records everything that is said and there

is a court clerk (assistant to the judge to help with scheduling, filing etc.). Many people

hire a lawyer because the whole experience is so foreign to them and they don’t feel

equipped enough to represent themselves. What makes matters worse is if they have

had to appear before an angry judge. I recall a case where both parties were

unrepresented by legal counsel. The young mother and the father had separated 2

years previously and decided their daughter would be in the mother’s primary care and

the father would have alternating weekend visits. Two years after this verbal agreement

was made, the father brought an urgent motion to ask that their daughter be place in his

care because the mother had decided to move with the child to another town. The

mother had promised that the father’s alternating weekend access would not be

disrupted by the move. The judge on the first appearance was angry that the mother

decided to move without the father’s written consent and placed the child in the care of

the father. The result was devastating for the mother as well, for the 4 year old girl, who

had never been separated from her mother, except for the alternating weekend access

visits. The stakes are very high in family law. In this case the father at least

recognized that he could not parent the child full-time as he had to work long hours and

he was entirely reliant on a babysitter so he decided voluntarily place the child back with

her mother.