AUTHORITY OF CHILD SUPPORT ATTORNEY

[dancurry]

My case is in a California Court and refers to a Request for Hearing Regarding License Denial and Notice of Motion for Modification of Earnings Assignment.

I filed the abovementioned documents by mail with the court clerk only to discover that the Lead Attorney for Child Support Services intercepted the documents and returned them to me with a note saying the documents were incorrect and had numerous errors. She refuses to tell me what the problem is and my attorney friend has indicated that notthing is wrong with them.

1. Does a child support attorney have the authority to act as a court clerk and interfere with my attempts to file court documents?

2. If not, then what are my options for resolving the problem.

3. If so, do you believe this may be a conflict of interest given the Attorney for child support services is the opposing party in the action?

Thank you in advance.

Dan Curry.

[socrateaser]

What is the exact number of the form that you filed?

With whom exaxtly did you file it?

Where did you file it (courthouse, DCSS office, etc.)?

[dancurry]

1. FL- 670 - Notice of Motion for Judicial Review of License Denial

2. FL - 450 - Request For Hearing Regarding Earnings Assignment

3. FL- 950 - Notice of Limited Scope Representation.

3. Declaration is support

4. Filed with the Court Clerks office by mail and served on DCSS.  

5. All documents were filed by mail.

5. Standard Letter re: endorcing and returning documents in SASE and informing the Court Clerk that the commissioner has been disqualified by order of the presiding judge and further, that a few waiver is on file.  

[socrateaser]

>1. FL- 670 - Notice of Motion for Judicial Review of License
>Denial
>
>2. FL - 450 - Request For Hearing Regarding Earnings
>Assignment
>
>3. FL- 950 - Notice of Limited Scope Representation.
>
>3. Declaration is support
>
>4. Filed with the Court Clerks office by mail and served on
>DCSS.  
>
>5. All documents were filed by mail.
>
>5. Standard Letter re: endorcing and returning documents in
>SASE and informing the Court Clerk that the commissioner has
>been disqualified by order of the presiding judge and further,
>that a few waiver is on file.  

OK, if the documents were actually filed with the clerk and have a stamp, and they cashed your $40 check, then the state's attorney cannot possibly remove those documents from the court file, even if the documents are filled with errors. The only possibility is that the judge could dismiss your action on grounds that the filing was so out of compliance that the judge couldn't understand it.

Whatever the state's attorney sent you cannot possibly be the documents actually on file with the court. I would check with the court clerk and see if the originals are still in the file.

If they aren't, then that would be a violation of due process, the sort of which you could sue for in federal court under the civil rights acts, because you have a constitutional right to a neutral decision maker and the state's attorney is not one. You could also ask for sanctions from the state court judge on grounds that the state's attorney unlawfully removed documents duly filed from a case file. More to the point, such an action would be criminal theft from the court and you could file a complaint with the local district attorney.

So, something you're telling me is either a misunderstanding on your part, or you should call the ACLU, because the action you describe is "legally" impossible under the circumstances you describe.

[dancurry]

Okay, thanks for your detailed response.

The documents just came back and they came from the court clerk separate from the letter from the DCSS Attorney, which leaves me with and entirely different set of questions.


Over the years, I have had numerous run-ins with the court clerk with regard to filing documents. I have always listed the County DCSS as the Petitioner, Myself as the Respondent and the Mother as the other parent.

The only time they accept my documents is either after numerous attempts or when called by my State Assemblyperson.

This time, they not only does she state that the caption is incorrect, but they also indicate that the case number is incorrect, yet this number has been the same number as the original divorce. Though I believe DCSS has their own number as well. I used the same caption and case number to terminate support and disqualify the commissioner in 2004.

Let me also state that I have been doing divorce documents in my county for over three years and have never seen a case treated like mine in all that time.

Another issue that may or may not be of interest to you. I filed suit against an attorney who is her friend, that suit was dismissed about a month and a half ago.

My question for you is.

1. What do you suggest I do to overcome this problem with the court clerks?

2. If I do everything correct yet continue to have my documents rejected, who is the proper party to complain too and what can I expect as a remedy?

3. Can a DCSS Attorney be disqualified from handling my case if a conflict of interest or there appears to be a vendetta taking place where I am being treated differently than others?

[socrateaser]

>My question for you is.
>
>1. What do you suggest I do to overcome this problem with the
>court clerks?

Smile more. Seriously, the only way to defeat the prejudice against pro se litigants (other than attending law school and passing the bar) is to treat the clerk as if he/she were a genius and you're an idiot. Clerks frequently provide incorrect info when they actually offer it, but if you challenge them, they will go off on you. So, you just have to try to work with them, or hire a lawyer.

>
>2. If I do everything correct yet continue to have my
>documents rejected, who is the proper party to complain too
>and what can I expect as a remedy?

If you do everything correctly and your document is rejected, then I would take my document to a civil rights lawyer because you have a huge case against the Superior Court for violation of your due process rights. However, recognize that, regardless of what you believe you know about the law, that getting a filing exactly right is hard enough for licensed attorneys, so you need to be pretty certain of your facts before you try to make this sort of accusation.

>
>3. Can a DCSS Attorney be disqualified from handling my case
>if a conflict of interest or there appears to be a vendetta
>taking place where I am being treated differently than
>others?

If you have evidence that the attorney is actually treating you unfairly, you could complain to the state bar. But, I don't know exactly what evidence you plan to allege, so I can't assess your probability of success.

I can tell you that it is inconceivable that the attorney and the clerk are conspiring against you. So, if it's really happening, you have something worthy of media attention -- especially if your state representative has already been involved in the past.

[dancurry]

Thanks again for your input. I will proceed with this in mind.

I'm going to be refiling in the next week or so and we shall see what happens. The lawyer that I'm working with on my case has an awesome paralegal who will check everything in detail before it goes out again.


I'll let you know how it goes.

Cheers.

Dan Curry