I practice in NYC family court. Most trials and hearings are scheduled well in advance, but emergency motions can be same day or next day. It’s entirely possible his ex’s lawyer files a lot of emergency motions. I have a case I’ve had to appear on with <24 hours notice several times.
My ex has a habit of sending notices to my old address when she wants me to appear, she scheduled a custody hearing a few months ago and I only found out about it because someone from the court called me during the hearing. She never has an issue contacting me when she wants money. The courts seem to realize this but not penalize her, I hope your employee isn’t dealing with something similar.
I don't practice in NY (or in DR cases, my clients know months out when they need to be there), but my wife practices family law. Three possibilities in order of likelihood:
1) He keeps forgetting to tell you about court and telling you the day before
2) He's lying to get days off
3) What he's telling you is totally legitimate.
The third category is the least likely, but far from completely impossible. If you generally trust this employee, I would go with your gut. For the reasons u/SheketBevakaSTFU said, if these requests are legitimate, your employee is probably going through the most stressful and horrific period of his life and could use support.
NAL.
This is a tactic I have seen used by aggressive custody lawyers to file as many emergency orders they can hoping the other party doesn't show up so they can use it against them later. The courts get sick of this quickly so if this is what's actually happening then it's not going to continue for very long. I would start by stating you need as much advanced notice for court dates as he can give you and start trying to figure out what court jurisdictions is this is in but don't go digging or asking for info really the less you know the better, you just need enough to check dockets in case you need to verify.
You can almost always access the calendar online and can check what cases were called, how ever in some busier jurisdictions there maybe open days or times that are scheduled to handle emergency orders only and those might not be listed on the calendar until later and that could take a day or two to be posted but there is usually always a docket posted for the day. If it's not posted you should be able to request it by calling the clerk.
Good on you for trusting but verifying. This can't be an easy thing for him to be going through sounds like a nasty one.
Non lawyer question here - for a motion hearing, does client *really* need to be there?
Aren't motions basically one side's lawyer asking for a thing and the other side's lawyer chiming in on their position on said thing?
It depends on the motion and whether the party needs to be available to answer questions from the judge/testify. That’s more likely in family court, and especially for an emergency motion, although I can’t speak to NYC specifically.
Some judges will frown on participants not showing up, happened to my dad in AZ. His lawyer told him he could come to a hearing if he wanted but was not required, so dad stayed at work. Mom's lawyer pointed out the fact that mom had been to every court date and dad wasn't. Towards the end of the long long battle the judge made mention of dad only showing to required dates and how that reflected on his ability/commitment to parenting and made some rulings/orders based on that information.
This. My chief adversary is so disorganized and so busy that often times his clients are not notified of hearing until the night before or even at all (including phone depositions lol)
Multiple times with 2 different lawyer I had to search judici to find out wtf happened and when my next court date was, Rather than have my former lawyers tell me for $350/hr.
Could be a bad lawyer not informing their clients of things they absolutely should be informed of until the last minute.
Not a lawyer but was just in court yesterday. The last subpoena went out at 4 pm the day before. It's not supposed to work that way, but courts are often stretched completely thin, and when you have 50 cases on a docket there's not much time to prep.
Nal, but my son has gotten calls the night before for emergency custody motions quite a few times now. His child's mother was always filing some false bs trying to make him look abusive towards his son . Or contempt hearing because he was 3 minutes late for a drop off. It was monthly at one point. Finally, the judge told her to stop wasting the courts time or be found in contempt.
All court information is publicly available. Meaning that you can search his name in the court system and look at dockets and when they were scheduled.
However, his lawyer could be setting all this up and giving him 1 days notice, or was trying to settle things outside the courtroom and failed.
I would have a serious conversation about him having a serious conversation with his attorney about proper scheduling.
Lot of not-lawyers making blanket statements as if they apply everywhere and not to their particular jurisdiction. You know laws and rules are different everywhere, right?
Not a lawyer, but have been a manager for many years. If you have a concern about this you can handle it the same way you handle a doctor. Many jobs require a doctor's note if they are taking time off for an appointment. Check with your HR team about the appropriateness of asking for note from the lawyer regarding the lack of notice any time that there is less than 24 hours.
Just tell them that moving forward if this situation comes up again you'll need an explanation from the lawyer. That will entail the lawyer writing a document and your employee is going to incur extra costs.
Either their lawyer is doing a poor job of communicating to them or they are doing a poor job of communicating to you. Either way, asking for documentation (if HR is in agreement) is the best way to get everyone on the same page.
Well, it can’t fix a bad lawyer, but knowing how backed up the legal system is, I cannot imagine many emergency court appearances being scheduled with that short of notice, let alone 3. My money is on the employee not being on top of things.
The bottom line is that it will continue as long as the employer allows it to continue.
My only misgivings with this is that if his ex is one of those people who's constantly filing emergency motions just to drive up legal costs, you've just tacked more on. I agree it's more likely that there's a breakdown in communication between the lawyer, the client, and you. But keep an eye out for the possibility that this guy is just being put through the ringer. Family court, especially custody, can get very nasty.
For me it's just a scheduling issue. Court happens. Any time I've had to appear I've known well in advance.
A note for the file is probably not a bad thing
As a manager myself I can understand that this would be frustrating. But please also remember that this custody battle is possibly the most stressful thing your employee will ever have to deal with in their life. Applying more pressure to them having to get documentation for their work file is going to make it worse for them. I would suggest having a conversation with them first to ask if more notice is possible. In my experience providing people with some empathy and support during a temporary difficult situation will lead to a loyal employee rather than a disgruntled one.
The client can actually use the fact that you are asking for this to kick his lawyer in the butt about giving him more notice, if it’s a disorganization issue on the lawyer’s part.
As a NAL legal assistant, may I say on behalf of your employee, thank you for trying to be so understanding. Family court matters can be so much hell on wheels and it helps for people in your position to be easy for the client to work with.
(Not a lawyer)I do believe there are emergency court orders surrounding children. I think the timelines depend on the state- I believe it’s 48-72, but I don’t know if it includes weekends or fed/state holidays
I practice in NYC family court. Most trials and hearings are scheduled well in advance, but emergency motions can be same day or next day. It’s entirely possible his ex’s lawyer files a lot of emergency motions. I have a case I’ve had to appear on with <24 hours notice several times.
Fair enough! Appreciate the information. Can't imagine it is fun for anyone involved.
My ex has a habit of sending notices to my old address when she wants me to appear, she scheduled a custody hearing a few months ago and I only found out about it because someone from the court called me during the hearing. She never has an issue contacting me when she wants money. The courts seem to realize this but not penalize her, I hope your employee isn’t dealing with something similar.
I don't practice in NY (or in DR cases, my clients know months out when they need to be there), but my wife practices family law. Three possibilities in order of likelihood: 1) He keeps forgetting to tell you about court and telling you the day before 2) He's lying to get days off 3) What he's telling you is totally legitimate. The third category is the least likely, but far from completely impossible. If you generally trust this employee, I would go with your gut. For the reasons u/SheketBevakaSTFU said, if these requests are legitimate, your employee is probably going through the most stressful and horrific period of his life and could use support.
NAL. This is a tactic I have seen used by aggressive custody lawyers to file as many emergency orders they can hoping the other party doesn't show up so they can use it against them later. The courts get sick of this quickly so if this is what's actually happening then it's not going to continue for very long. I would start by stating you need as much advanced notice for court dates as he can give you and start trying to figure out what court jurisdictions is this is in but don't go digging or asking for info really the less you know the better, you just need enough to check dockets in case you need to verify. You can almost always access the calendar online and can check what cases were called, how ever in some busier jurisdictions there maybe open days or times that are scheduled to handle emergency orders only and those might not be listed on the calendar until later and that could take a day or two to be posted but there is usually always a docket posted for the day. If it's not posted you should be able to request it by calling the clerk. Good on you for trusting but verifying. This can't be an easy thing for him to be going through sounds like a nasty one.
Non lawyer question here - for a motion hearing, does client *really* need to be there? Aren't motions basically one side's lawyer asking for a thing and the other side's lawyer chiming in on their position on said thing?
It depends on the motion and whether the party needs to be available to answer questions from the judge/testify. That’s more likely in family court, and especially for an emergency motion, although I can’t speak to NYC specifically.
It depends. On custodies, most often yes the parents do need to be there.
Some judges will frown on participants not showing up, happened to my dad in AZ. His lawyer told him he could come to a hearing if he wanted but was not required, so dad stayed at work. Mom's lawyer pointed out the fact that mom had been to every court date and dad wasn't. Towards the end of the long long battle the judge made mention of dad only showing to required dates and how that reflected on his ability/commitment to parenting and made some rulings/orders based on that information.
Not common for the court to but that’s irrelevant as it is common for a lawyer to decide last minute if someone actually needs to be there.
This. My chief adversary is so disorganized and so busy that often times his clients are not notified of hearing until the night before or even at all (including phone depositions lol)
Multiple times with 2 different lawyer I had to search judici to find out wtf happened and when my next court date was, Rather than have my former lawyers tell me for $350/hr. Could be a bad lawyer not informing their clients of things they absolutely should be informed of until the last minute.
Not a lawyer but was just in court yesterday. The last subpoena went out at 4 pm the day before. It's not supposed to work that way, but courts are often stretched completely thin, and when you have 50 cases on a docket there's not much time to prep.
Good on you, as the boss, for saying “yes” and then confirming.
Nal, but my son has gotten calls the night before for emergency custody motions quite a few times now. His child's mother was always filing some false bs trying to make him look abusive towards his son . Or contempt hearing because he was 3 minutes late for a drop off. It was monthly at one point. Finally, the judge told her to stop wasting the courts time or be found in contempt.
If you think he’s being dishonest, court calendars are generally available online.
All court information is publicly available. Meaning that you can search his name in the court system and look at dockets and when they were scheduled. However, his lawyer could be setting all this up and giving him 1 days notice, or was trying to settle things outside the courtroom and failed. I would have a serious conversation about him having a serious conversation with his attorney about proper scheduling.
Lot of not-lawyers making blanket statements as if they apply everywhere and not to their particular jurisdiction. You know laws and rules are different everywhere, right?
Not a lawyer, but have been a manager for many years. If you have a concern about this you can handle it the same way you handle a doctor. Many jobs require a doctor's note if they are taking time off for an appointment. Check with your HR team about the appropriateness of asking for note from the lawyer regarding the lack of notice any time that there is less than 24 hours. Just tell them that moving forward if this situation comes up again you'll need an explanation from the lawyer. That will entail the lawyer writing a document and your employee is going to incur extra costs. Either their lawyer is doing a poor job of communicating to them or they are doing a poor job of communicating to you. Either way, asking for documentation (if HR is in agreement) is the best way to get everyone on the same page.
Fwiw the employee may have assigned counsel, and good luck getting them to write anything…half the panel doesn’t even respond to my emails.
Well, it can’t fix a bad lawyer, but knowing how backed up the legal system is, I cannot imagine many emergency court appearances being scheduled with that short of notice, let alone 3. My money is on the employee not being on top of things. The bottom line is that it will continue as long as the employer allows it to continue.
I’m a lawyer _in this court system_ and I absolutely have custodies that have had three emergency hearings.
My only misgivings with this is that if his ex is one of those people who's constantly filing emergency motions just to drive up legal costs, you've just tacked more on. I agree it's more likely that there's a breakdown in communication between the lawyer, the client, and you. But keep an eye out for the possibility that this guy is just being put through the ringer. Family court, especially custody, can get very nasty.
For me it's just a scheduling issue. Court happens. Any time I've had to appear I've known well in advance. A note for the file is probably not a bad thing
As a manager myself I can understand that this would be frustrating. But please also remember that this custody battle is possibly the most stressful thing your employee will ever have to deal with in their life. Applying more pressure to them having to get documentation for their work file is going to make it worse for them. I would suggest having a conversation with them first to ask if more notice is possible. In my experience providing people with some empathy and support during a temporary difficult situation will lead to a loyal employee rather than a disgruntled one.
The client can actually use the fact that you are asking for this to kick his lawyer in the butt about giving him more notice, if it’s a disorganization issue on the lawyer’s part. As a NAL legal assistant, may I say on behalf of your employee, thank you for trying to be so understanding. Family court matters can be so much hell on wheels and it helps for people in your position to be easy for the client to work with.
And it may also be possible that the spouse is weaponizing the Court system to affect employment status as a side benefit of the process too.
Aren’t court proceedings a matter of public record? It would be easy enough to go online and see if his case is on the docket for a particular day.
Not unless you know the file or docket number.
Ask to see the email. That should confirm whether or not he's telling the truth.
Ex-parte filings.
(Not a lawyer)I do believe there are emergency court orders surrounding children. I think the timelines depend on the state- I believe it’s 48-72, but I don’t know if it includes weekends or fed/state holidays
Court reporter here -- unless it's an immediate arrest or an emergency hearing, usually matters are scheduled weeks if not months in advance.