Status hearing

[Hazel]

Dear Soc,

I am involved in a court case that just won't die...  :(

1) Under what circumstances is a status hearing usually ordered?  

2) What is the benefit to the court?


Thanks for your time, hope your vacation was great!

[socrateaser]

>Dear Soc,
>
>I am involved in a court case that just won't die...  :(
>
>1) Under what circumstances is a status hearing usually
>ordered?  

A status hearing is always set in order for the judge to determine if the matter will settle before trial, and to get a feel for the issues and whether the judge can "coerce" the attorneys in chambers to "encourage" their respective clients to settle.

This usually means, that the judge listens to the two lawyers for a few minutes, and then he/she tells them how the final judgment is likely to look in the absent of some other evidence. In reality, this is highly prejudicial, however, it happens every day in every court in the U.S.

>
>2) What is the benefit to the court?

See above.

[Hazel]

Thank you for your insight.  I'm still confused, though, because a pre-trial conference was already held, during which the judge DID tell the attorneys how he was likely to rule should the case go to court.  (Which was in my favor.)

He said in the PTC that if the child did not have at least a 2.0GPA (college) that he was going to "pull the plug on the whole deal."  (His words)  OC refuses to accept this, and continues to pursue in spite of the fact that the agreed order explicitly states that if child fails to achieve a 2.0 then the entire order becomes null and void.  

Child did not achieve the required GPA, therefore the agreement is null and void.  I cannot for the life of me understand what there is left to debate.

I believe that my attorney should have filed a motion to dismiss once the grade report was in, and she failed to do so.  In fact, my attorney received a letter from opposing counsel stating their intentions to continue pursuing this matter, and she did not respond to the letter until 28 days later, nor did she ever inform me of their intent to pursue.

I am 800 miles away.  There is now a new court date for a status hearing, and although my attorney continues to be unreachable I am assuming that I must appear.  (Yes, I am getting a new attorney TODAY.)

The OC has expressed that the child does not even want to attend school in the fall, but that they wish for me to agree to pay if she ever DOES decide to attend in the future.  (?!?!)  I'm wondering if the status hearing is a way to coerce me into capitulating to that request, as negotiating a settlement will save me travel costs.

Sooo in trying to sort this all out, I've only one question:

1) Is the status hearing something that a judge orders independently, or is it something that is requested by counsel?


Thanks again -

[socrateaser]

>Sooo in trying to sort this all out, I've only one question:
>
>1) Is the status hearing something that a judge orders
>independently, or is it something that is requested by
>counsel?

Status hearings are frequently no more than 5 minutes in length. You don't need to appear, especially if you have no intention of trying to settle. The only value in appearing is that sometimes when everyone's sitting in the courtroom hallway, a negotiated settlement occurs, because all the parties are there as a captive audience.

But, if you're not interested in settling, then there's no reason to appear.