Who is the single most important person in the court that can single-handedly effect whether you prevail in your case? The answer is the judge of the Orange County family law court that is assigned to your case. The job of a judge is one of the hardest in courts since it is their responsibility to make sure they make the correct decision. Any discrepancies or ambiguities in a judge’s decision will not only be challenged in court but could also cause irreparable damage to the party wronged.
The judge in an Orange County divorce case holds unparalleled importance since they are the ones who are the decision-making authority. With great power come greater responsibility, and a judge will be expected by the parties to be up to a certain standard. Here are a few things that either of the spouses should expect from the judge.
· Expect Them To Be Busy
The number of family disputes and people looking for divorce seems to be on the horizon with a large number of cases being registered in the family law courts. This is likely to mean that you should expect the judge to be busy. This would mean that the judge would have to juggle your case along with other similar cases that he or she is dealing with.
· Expect The Judge To Prioritize The Type Of Cases To Be Heard
There are some things that a family law judge should do but often end up not doing. This is likely to be one of those instances. Judges in family law courts are expected to prioritize the case they are hearing in order of importance of the case and the issue at hand. Setting priority to the case would allow the judge to fast track the hearing of the case instead of dealing with it at the same pace as other cases. These cases can usually be ones that involve domestic violence and child custody issues.
· Expect The Judge To Want A Time Estimate
Usually when an Orange County divorce case starts, the judges are looking to know the time limit or the period of time that the divorce case is expected to run. Therefore, you should expect the judge to ask your lawyers and that of the other spouse to give him/her an estimate of the length the case is expect to run for. When a judge asks you for an estimate, it is not needed to be a 100% accurate value, rather an estimate. Yet, telling a judge your case would take less time when it actually will take more is the wrong thing to do.
· Expect Them To Ask Why Your Cases Has Not Been Settled Out Of Court
With the increasing number of cases in the Orange County family law court, judges have been encouraging their potential clients to settle their cases out of court. It is only when that does not happen that they expect the spouse to battle it out in court. So you expect the judge to ask you the reason for not settling the case out of court.
Gerald A. Maggio is an experienced Orange County divorce and family law attorney and family law attorney located in Irvine, California, serving the Orange County and Riverside areas. Mr. Maggio assists clients with legal issues including divorce, legal separation, divorce mediation, child custody, prenuptial agreements, stepparent adoptions, and other family law issues. Mr. Maggio has practiced law in California since 1999, and founded The Maggio Law Firm in 2005, focusing exclusively on divorce and family law matters.
