Reprise: The Lawyer as Puppeteer
January 31, 2020 § Leave a comment
Reprise replays posts from the past that you may find useful today.
COACHING FROM COUNSEL’S TABLE
June 20, 2012 § Leave a comment
Atty 1: Can you tell the court why you did not call the police right away when you say that he hit you and knocked you down?
Atty 2: Objection. The witness could not have called because her husband had broken the telephone before he hit her.
That, my friends, is a speaking objection. It’s a pernicious, baleful, noxious thing, odious to judges. So what exactly is the big problem with speaking objections? Let’s look at what predictably happens next in that trial we started above …
Judge: Objection is overruled.
Atty 1: Judge says you can answer my question.
Witness: Well, I could not call because my husband had broken the telephone before he hit me.
How could one expect a different answer after her attorney told her what to say?
One of the most important functions of a chancellor is to weigh the credibility of witnesses and to determine the weight to give to their testimony. I think most chancery judges, if not all, would assign that witness’s testimony on that point almost no weight at all because it was not her testimony.
I have had to caution counsel not to make speaking objections and to limit any comment on objections to legal bases (e.g., hearsay, irrelevant, compound question, etc.).
Speaking objections actually do your case more harm than good.
Ten Commandments for Your Divorce Case
January 22, 2020 § 4 Comments
This is adapted from a handout that a Tennessee law firm gives to every divorce client. The client is required to date and sign the form, which is kept in the client’s file, presumably for “Didn’t I tell you not to do that?” purposes.
TEN COMMANDMENTS FOR YOUR DIVORCE CASE
I. You are still married until the judge signs the Final Decree of Divorce.
a. You can not date or have sex or sexual contact with anyone, including your spouse, even if you are living together.
b. If you have sex with anyone, it will give your spouse grounds for divorce based on adultery, complicate your case, and cost you money.
c. Your spouse will review your cell phone records and computer activity during the divorce.
II. Do not post to any social media or allow anyone to post on your behalf.
a. No pictures or comments about your divorce on Facebook.
b. No tweets about the divorce or your spouse on Twitter.
c. Do NOT sign up for eHarmony, Match.com or any other dating site.
d. Do NOT post to hook up with anyone on Craig’s List.
e. Do NOT send lewd pictures to anyone.
III. Do not discuss your attorney’s strategy or any details of your divorce with your spouse, friends, or co-workers.
a. Every divorce is different, and what allegedly worked in your friend’s case will not work in yours.
b. If you tell your spouse details about your case, you will lose leverage and it will cost you more money.
IV. Establish a new, secure email account with a password that your spouse can’t guess.
a. Make sure your computer is free of spyware and that you have it password protected.
b. Password protect your cell phone.
V. Be totally honest with your attorney and the staff, and treat them with respect and courtesy.
VI. Remember that, as soon as the divorce complaint is filed, you are no longer in charge of your life. The Court is in charge.
a. You must comply with every order of the court, even if you disagree with the court’s ruling.
b. Do not harass, drunk call or text, follow, shadow, or in any way interfere with your spouse. Judges hate that kind of behavior.
c. Do not make changes to insurance without consulting your attorney first.
VII. Immediately answer interrogatories and requests for production of documents from your spouse’s attorney.
a. There are deadlines that can complicate your case and cost you money if you fail to meet them.
b. Follow the attorney’s directions on how to respond.
c. Do the necessary leg work to collect the necessary information, and organize it. The better you do it, the more money you will save. We have to charge you for the work we do for you.
d. Organize and keep succinct notes about your spouse’s misconduct.
e. Organize and create a record of all financial assets and accounts.
f. Do NOT staple any of the documents you bring us. Organize them by question or request number, preferably in folders.
VIII. Do NOT put your children in the middle during the divorce.
a. We recommend and urge that you immediately enroll in a parenting seminar at http://www.parentingskillsinstitute.com.
b. If your children are having issues, get them to counselling.
IX. Read everything our office sends you … at least twice.
X. You must pay your bill promptly as it comes due and provide additional retainers as requested. To keep your bill down:
a. Avoid endless phone calls and emails to our office. You are charged for every form of communication.
b. Organize your thoughts, questions, and concerns so that only one phone call, email, or office visit covers all issues.
c. Do not send an email and then follow up with a phone call to discuss the same things.
d. Consider finding a good counselor to help deal with the stress of divorce.
Bell Dates for 2020
January 17, 2020 § Leave a comment
Might as well annotate your calendars now for the Bell Family Law seminars upcoming in 2020. Here are the dates:
July 10 Jackson
July 24 Oxford
July 31 Mississippi Gulf Coast
I have said it here before: there are other Mississippi family law seminars, but there is no better Mississippi family law seminar. You will receive a handout summarizing all of the 2019-2020 cases. The lectures analyze the case law and discuss related issues, which in the past have included reproductive technology and bankruptcy. There is an ethics hour.
The only benefit I gain from mentioning this is the improved performance of lawyers who have attended the seminar. And for any judge that is quite a valuable benefit indeed.
A Couple of MEC Points
January 7, 2020 § Leave a comment
Effective yesterday, MEC will allow you to file a combined guardianship/conservatorship. And the civil cover sheet has been amended to add that category for both MEC and non-MEC filers.
Also, MEC does not allow a petition to approve a minor’s settlement to be filed in a conservatorship (reminder: GAP Act term for guardianship of the estate). When the order or judgment approving the settlement is filed, MEC wants to close the file, which can not be done because the conservatorship must remain open. If the order or judgment is filed and the case is not closed, then the order or judgment is not final according to MEC, which means that the clerk can not collect the fee, and the case is not final in the district’s stats. So, you need to file two separate actions with two separate filing fees.
GAP Act Forms
December 20, 2019 § Leave a comment
The GAP Act forms published by the MSSC are now available on the Mississippi Judicial College web site.
Click on this link to access them. I will also add a page with the link at the GAP Act materials tab on this site.
“Quote Unquote”
December 6, 2019 § Leave a comment
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” — James Baldwin
“And the horrible thing about all legal officials, even the best, about all judges, magistrates, barristers, detectives, and policemen, is not that they are wicked (some of them are good), not that they are stupid (some of them are quite intelligent), it is simply that they have got used to it.” — G. K. Chesterton
“Power concedes nothing without demand. It never did and never will.” — Frederick Douglass
November 28, 2019 § Leave a comment
Thanksgiving Holiday
Courthouse closed
Next post December 2, 2019
The Better Chancery Practice Blog 