Litigants Acting Badly
July 14, 2010
Recently, the Appellate Division turned down an appellant’s request to overturn a trial court order dismissing his request to reduce his support obligations. The reason? He framed his request badly – put it in his Certification instead of in his Notice of Motion. Didn’t provide adequate documentation. He was Pro se – how was he to know? Too bad, said the court. If you want to ask the court for help, you’d better submit everything in proper form and provide all appropriate supporting documents.
This is not intended as a criticism of an overburdened court. Courts have rules for a reason and if lawyers have to follow the rules, so do litigants who are unrepresented by counsel. But compare this process to mediation or collaborative law where requests for information are made informally and the parties are given an adequate opportunity to submit their supporting materials and discuss their positions.
The litigant in the recent case might not prevail in mediation or in a collaborative divorce, but the emphasis would be where it belongs — on the substance of his request. Support reductions, like the original establishment of support obligations, can be effectively mediated or resolved through the collaborative divorce process. And everyone has the opportunity to be heard.
Contact Risa A. Kleiner, Esq. at 609.951.2222 or via email at risa@rkleinerlaw.com for more information about mediation and collaborative divorce.
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