Family Law

Salinas Divorce Attorney Discusses Hiring a Private Judge

By Scott Sagaria

Salinas Divorce Attorney Discusses Hiring a Private Judge

Due to the high divorce rate and lack of state and county resources the family court system in California is severely overcrowded. If a motion needs to be filed in a divorce case on any routine issue, such as child custody and visitation, child support, spousal support or property division it is routine to have to wait approximately six to eight weeks before you will have your day in court. There are certain cases that can be filed on an expedited basis to get in sooner but they must normally require a serious or emergency issue.
Once you get your long awaited day in court you will be waiting with other people on a crowded calendar to have your case heard by the Judge. This overcrowding means your Judge will have a very limited time to hear your issue, most of the time only about fifteen minutes. When that issue relates to your children, your means of support or how to divide your property this can be very difficult to accept. To set your case for a trial you could end up waiting for your trial to start for about six to twelve months. In addition many people are uncomfortable having these issues decided in a crowded public court room. There is an alternative to the problems inherent with the public court system.
Having your divorce or family law case decided by a private judge can reduce the stress of being in a public court room and allow your case to be resolved quickly. The attorneys for the parties can agree to have the case decided by a private Judge and then decide who that Judge will be. This has the added benefit of hiring a trusted authority instead of the randomly selected public Judge who your attorney cannot choose. Private Judges generally charge hourly rate similar to private attorneys and parties can agree to split that cost equally. Once selected the case can be resolved much quicker because private Judges are more flexible with their time and easier to schedule with than public Judges. For parties who can afford a private Judge it is a decision that should be considered. Unlike mediation where the parties must agree on resolution with a private Judge each side can present their case and a decision will be made by the Judge.
Our attorneys at Sagaria Law can advise you if having a private Judge in your case would be a good decision and answer all of your family law questions. Our attorneys here at Sagaria Law would be happy to meet with you for a free consultation to go over your specific situation regarding divorce or other family law issues. Please contact us for a consultation at one of our offices in Salinas, Monterey, San Jose, Fremont or Redwood City.

Full post as published by California Family Law Blog on May 01, 2008 (boomark / email).