How to respond

[DMMyers]

California:

I'm going through a bitter divorce. Ex-Parte hearing was held last week for a forced sale of home. Motion denied but hearing granted for Feb. 20, 2020. I am now pro se and will represent myself until I can get money for an attorney. I am drafting a response to opposing counsels last handwritten response the morning of hearing. Does my response have to be served within a certain timeframe to opposing counsel? Do I need to file it with the court? Can it be mailed to opposing counsel and if so, does someone else have to provide the proof of service? Thank you in advance.

 

[zddoodah]

It's not entirely clear what's happening.

Sometime between Feb. 3-7, the court held a hearing on an ex parte application and denied the application. The court apparently set the matter for hearing on Feb. 20.

You say you are "drafting a response to opposing counsel[']s . . . response the morning of [the] hearing." I'm not really sure what that means. Are you the party who made the ex parte application or did your spouse make it? Did the court say that the applicant should file a further brief or make any order concerning briefing? What does the reference to a "handwritten response" mean?

Under the circumstances you describe (where a court denies an ex parte application but sets the matter for noticed hearing), the court will either regard the ex parte application as the moving paper or will allow the moving party to file a new motion. The opposing party would then have an opportunity to file an opposition and the moving party an opportunity to file a reply, all within the normal statutory timeframes (9 and 5 court days before the hearing, respectively). In your case, however, 9 court days before Feb. 20 was Feb. 6, so I would be surprised if the court didn't set a non-statutory briefing schedule.

With all that said, anything you want the court to consider obviously has to be filed with the court and served on opposing counsel. Most lawyers who aren't a-holes will serve oppositions and replies by overnight mail or courier,

 

[NeilTheCop]

Does my response have to be served within a certain timeframe to opposing counsel? Do I need to file it with the court? Can it be mailed to opposing counsel and if so, does someone else have to provide the proof of service? Thank you in advance.

If you are having to ask those questions, you are in desperate need of an attorney.