hearing possibly postponed

[mommyofmany27]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? TX

Hearing for the Protective Order for my girls is tomorrow afternoon. My attorney called a few hours ago and said that ex finally retained an attorney TODAY and they are wanting to postpone the hearing for sometime next week. He said that since the attorney was just retained the judge will probably agree to their request. He also said that the judge may go ahead and grant some kind of temporary order of protection until the hearing, but that's not a guarantee.

I didn't think to ask my attorney when I was talking to him if we could do some sort of stop of visitation (I know that's not the legal term, but I'm at a loss as to the wording) if the hearing wasn't going to take place tomorrow. Is this something we can ask for or do we need to submit extra paperwork before that can be requested? And is there any hope that the judge won't grant their request or is that pretty standard?

 

[LdiJ]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? TX

Hearing for the Protective Order for my girls is tomorrow afternoon. My attorney called a few hours ago and said that ex finally retained an attorney TODAY and they are wanting to postpone the hearing for sometime next week. He said that since the attorney was just retained the judge will probably agree to their request. He also said that the judge may go ahead and grant some kind of temporary order of protection until the hearing, but that's not a guarantee.

I didn't think to ask my attorney when I was talking to him if we could do some sort of stop of visitation (I know that's not the legal term, but I'm at a loss as to the wording) if the hearing wasn't going to take place tomorrow. Is this something we can ask for or do we need to submit extra paperwork before that can be requested? And is there any hope that the judge won't grant their request or is that pretty standard?

A temporary order of protection would do the same thing as suspending visitation. However, I also think that its likely that no one would expect you to provide the children for visitation before the case is heard.

 

[mommyofmany27]

A temporary order of protection would do the same thing as suspending visitation. However, I also think that its likely that no one would expect you to provide the children for visitation before the case is heard.

Oh yeah, I guess it would do the same thing. I knew that, but this whole new chain of events has completely thrown me off.

Can we present a good argument against postponing? For example, he was served last week but instead of getting an attorney he spent his time sending text messages to family members of mine to get them to testify for him and it didnt work? I really don't understand how much time his attorney needs to prepare? People have taken off of work, my oldest is missing school, etc.. Or is there at least a way for the judge to go ahead and talk to my oldest so that she can get back to her life and just be seven and her headaches, tummy aches and stress will get better?

 

[LdiJ]

Oh yeah, I guess it would do the same thing. I knew that, but this whole new chain of events has completely thrown me off.

Can we present a good argument against postponing? For example, he was served last week but instead of getting an attorney he spent his time sending text messages to family members of mine to get them to testify for him and it didnt work? I really don't understand how much time his attorney needs to prepare? People have taken off of work, my oldest is missing school, etc.. Or is there at least a way for the judge to go ahead and talk to my oldest so that she can get back to her life and just be seven and her headaches, tummy aches and stress will get better?

Your attorney would have to answer that question.

 

[mommyofmany27]

SENIORS please advise!!!

Your attorney would have to answer that question.

And what a splendid attorney he turned out to be! Hours after the hearing and my jaw still seems to be on the floor.

Hearing was scheduled for 1:30, attorney didn't show up until nearly 2. I'll keep this as short as possible,....after my ex's attorney decided that she was in fact ready to proceed MY attorney then asked for the hearing to be postponed. WHY??? Because HE wasn't ready! Said nothing to me. Didn't ask what I wanted to do. Went ahead and asked the judge for it. You can imagine the look on my face. ALL of my witnesses were there, including my oldest daughter. The judge basically laughed at him, along with ex's attorney. He kept asking me questions about information that I had already supplied to him and was in the file he had on the case. He kept asking me to show him paperwork in the file and many times asked if he had that information (let me just say, I am not attorney, but I have spent every waking second getting information to support my case because my girls need protection and I know much of a manipulator my ex is). At one point I found the paperwork we were discussing and he told me to take apart the folder and take it out. However I had brought copies of everything I had supplied the office with. He also NEVER submitted paperwork for the motion to confer(and since our case was based majorly around her you can see the problem with the oversight). Which meant my little girl would be up on the stand in front of dad and there was NO way I was going to let that happen. Judge also wasn't going to let that happen and ex's attorney kept saying she's only 7. My attorney didn't seem to see the problem. My attorney began yelling at ex's attorney, in the courtroom in front of the judge. Judge had to tell him to basically simmer down or get out. At this point I'm fed up, realizing that I know my case front to back and he has NO clue what's going on, I was ready to ask the judge if I could dismiss my representation and represent myself (not that I'm familiar with the law but this was a train wreck going south very, very fast). He takes me aside and tells me to control my emotions. Wha??Huh? Have you completely lost your mind??? YOU JUST YELLED AT EX'S COUNSEL IN FRONT OF THE JUDGE!!! Lord, please help me to contain my shock and allow me to just smile and blink at this man! The bailiffs even looked shocked and kept looking at me with faces that seemed to say oh you poor woman.

After telling my attorney that I wanted to come to an agreement with the other party (at least 4 times) because it was obvious that the judge was NOT going to allow this to be postponed and had already said that if we couldn't continue then she was going to order visitation he finally listened. An agreement was reached. Not before my attorney yelled at his attorney again and I had to remind him that we were not here for that and to take it some where else. I then began making my case to his attorney since my attorney had no clue what was going on. Ironically, she agreed on every point I made. Guess the ex left out quite a few pieces of very important, outcome changing, information.

My attorney tells the judge that he wasn't ready because ex's attorney said yesterday that she wanted to postpone. But that phone call didn't happen until yesterday afternoon so why wasn't he ready before then? He told her then he would ask the judge not to grant that and then suddenly he's agreeing to it. He said that what ex's attorney did was unfair and that is why he wasn't prepared. Ummmmm, not so much. Shouldn't he have already been ready before yesterday and not have banked on ex's attorney asking for hearing to be postponed and the judge granting that?

Ex's attorney has agreed to write a letter to whomever I need about my attorney's conduct.

Do I have any recourse against this man? Isn't there paperwork I have to submit to have him take himself off of my case? Where can I find that? Any advice on what to do? Please tell me this isn't normal behavior!!! And where do I go to get the transcripts from today?

 

[Ohiogal]

You can always file a substitution of counsel and list YOURSELF as counsel.

 

[LdiJ]

You can always file a substitution of counsel and list YOURSELF as counsel.

And send him a letter that his services are no longer required.

 

[mommyofmany27]

Outcome was two hour supervised visits on weekends until CPS can at least sort things out. His attorney's original plan was to ask for the ex's girlfriend to supervise visits (as in the standard overnights). Instead of my attorney saying absolutely not because this is the same woman who has admitted to breaking and entering, has exposed the kids to swine flu AND has said in a public forum that she wishes she could murder mom of kids, I was the one who had to inform the attorney why I objected to gf supervising. My ex claimed he had no knowledge of her saying she wished she could kill me so I was more than happy to show him and his attorney copies of it so there could be no more denying it. Ex tried to downplay it, but his attorney saw the seriousness of the situation and informed my ex that girlfriend can hinder his visitation by doing these things and that she has a lot of growing up to do (but we're not talking about an 18 year old girl, gf is a 29 year old woman). Although his attorney was not working for me I was very thankful for her words of wisdom to him and the fact that she could understand where I was coming from as a mother.

It wasn't just that my attorney wasn't ready, he was, honestly, a fumbling idiot. I had supplied them with the list of names for witnesses and when the judge asked him who was here for our side he kept saying he didn't know. But his office sent out subpoenas. Even after I wrote down the list of names at the table he still didn't know. His conduct was truly remarkable. It was almost like he had never met me prior to that day. And he should have been more prepared than an attorney who was just retained the afternoon prior to the hearing. There is so much more than happened that I haven't written in either posting but I'm still trying to digest the madness.

I'll have to get the transcripts and post them. I don't think anyone can truly believe how much of a three ring circus it was without those transcripts.