I don’t know about you, but the most stressful thing for me in any new situation is not knowing what to expect. I hate it. I like to know where I’m going and at least an idea of what’s going to happen. I imagine most of my clients feel the same. Probably the most stressful thing in their lives is going to court. In this series of posts, I’m going to outline the different hearings you may have in your Maryland case, and what to expect.
The first hearing is the scheduling or initial conference. That’s the hearing at which you are going to receive your court dates. Let’s get you there. The first thing you need to know is when and where to go. Check your scheduling order for the time and the date. Google the address and locate the area parking. Calculate how long it will take you to get to the courthouse and add 20 minutes. You don’t want to be late and you will have to go through security and a metal detector (no knives, horse blanket pins or other weapons). Oh, and don’t forget your calendar, because this is the hearing at which you will get your court dates.
If you’re feeling really ambitious and you have access to the internet, look up your case on Maryland Case Search. Depending on the county your case is in, the magistrate and hearing room will be listed there. If you don’t look up your case in advance, don’t worry. Inside the lobby of every courthouse in Maryland is a listing of the day’s court docket. In most of them, it is electronic, although in some, it is still a paper docket, posted on the wall. The docket will list your name, case number, courtroom number and location of the courtroom. Head to the courtroom.
In the courtroom before the hearing time, you’ll see a person sitting up near the magistrate’s bench. That’s the courtroom clerk. The clerk will check in all the parties for the morning’s cases. There will be a number of cases on the docket; you will not be the only one in front of the magistrate at your hearing time. At the hearing time or shortly thereafter, a door will open in the front of the courtroom near the magistrate’s bench and the magistrate will come out. When the door opens, you stand until the magistrate takes the bench and instructs you to sit down. Then you sit down and wait for your case to be called.
Until your case is called, you don’t talk. Period. When the magistrate calls your case, you go up to the tables in front of the courtroom. Many of them are marked either “Plaintiff” or “Defendant.” Some are not marked at all. Sit at the table marked for your party designation in the case, or ask the magistrate where to sit. When you are called on to speak stand up to speak unless the magistrate tells you otherwise. Refer to the magistrate as “Your Honor.” At no point are you to talk directly to the other side while you are in front of the magistrate; you only talk to the magistrate.
The magistrate is setting a lot of dates at this hearing. In some jurisdictions, you will have received a notification of the need to take co-parenting (parenting during divorce) courses; in others, those dates will be assigned at the scheduling hearing. The court will ask whether you have any pendente lite (during the course of the litigation) issues that can’t wait until the merits trial. Those are issues like child access, child support, spousal support, attorney’s fees and suit money. The court will ask how long you need to try those issues before the court. Be aware that some courts have limits on the amount of trial time they will give you for pendente lite issues.
Some courts bifurcate, or divide, child custody and monetary issues. Others do not. If it is bifurcated, the court will give you two sets of dates. Otherwise, you will be asked how long it will take to try your case. This is important, because the court will not give you more time than you request if it turns out you underestimated your time. Some courts will give you a trial date at this time; others will give you only a pretrial conference at which they will assign a date. By “trial date,” I also include multi-day trials. The magistrate will also assign a settlement conference date at which the court will see if they can help you settle your case, and a pretrial conference, to make sure you are ready for trial. Some courts make you wait in the courtroom to receive the papers indicating your court dates; others will just mail you the papers with the dates. Either way, it’s important to write the dates down.
One final point for you to remember. If you don’t have a lawyer at the scheduling conference, and hire one after that, the lawyer will have to be available on the dates you chose at your scheduling conference. The court will not change court dates because your new lawyer can’t make them. My advice? If you intend to hire a lawyer, either do so before the scheduling conference, or make sure you have the calendar of the attorney you intend to hire with you in court. Otherwise, you need to find a lawyer to match your court dates. Here in the Trenches.
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