Why Judges Dislike Family Law

We visited with our Erin the other day after work. She really loves her new job with the courtroom clerks.  It's also helped her gain a bit of perspective.  The perspective is that there is a reason most judges hate family law; and that reason is that many people fight like animals over things that really don't matter.  Look at it from their point of view.  In criminal cases, we're talking about someone's freedom.  In most juvenile cases, we're talking about the right to have a life with the basic necessities.  Foreclosures, we're talking about the right to have a home.  Medical malpractice, well, you get the picture.  In family law, by contrast, what the courts see is people fighting about hurt feelings instead of real issues.  What it came down to for Erin is that is that a lot of family law cases should never see the courtroom.  Both the lawyers and their clients in the trenches get caught up in the emotion, in the need for vindication, and lose sight of what they really need to move forward, what the court can and cannot do, and how to present the case, emotions and all, in a concise way that helps the judge make a decision.  Instead, the marital drama gets played out in the courtroom and the judges have to referee.   Most judges did not practice family law in their lives before the judiciary, so they are uncomfortable wading through all the emotions and they are impatient, and frankly resentful, that they have to be involved when people seem intent on venting their spleens instead of resolving the dispute and moving on with their lives.  They hate when people are disrespectful to each other and to the court.  They hate when the feelings and not the facts, are center stage, because that's not the purpose of a trial and the court.  The ones who judges resent most are not the litigants, but their lawyers, because they should know better and because they fail to counsel their clients accordingly.  What judges want are cases that aren't tried unless they need to be, and presented to the court in a cogent, organized manner, with emotions, yes, but not unbridled ones.  It's what I hope we do - here in the Trenches.