His Attorney adding things in that were not ordered!!!

[LdiJ]

That's what I thought - but GU was telling me in no way should I send a letter to the court, to the clerk or Judge. The clerk told me when I called to submit an objection to his proposed order. I have a paralegal looking into if there is a rule or something that I can site in my reasoning behind all this.

I am tempted to just follow the same procedure I did previously (back in December) and send the letter to the clerk and my copy of the proposed order, but I don't want it to backfire on me.

You are getting confused on the definition of a "letter"...you and GU are going back and forth on that.

You write an objection to the order. You use the same format as the order. You don't put it in the form of a Letter. Does that make more sense?

 

[angeleyzad]

Here lies the confusion...

You are getting confused on the definition of a "letter"...you and GU are going back and forth on that.

You write an objection to the order. You use the same format as the order. You don't put it in the form of a Letter. Does that make more sense?

I guess the confusion is coming from one of my first letters I wrote, which was directly to the judge, which I have changed. I am not sending a "letter" to the judge. This is what I have. ..(1) cover letter to the clerk stating what I am submitting (almost the same that his lawyer submitted, minus the extra relief) (2) "Objection to Defendant's Proposed Order on Defendant's Motion for Contempt" (in proper format, just my objection and why I am objecting it) and (3) Proposed Order on Defendant's Motion for Contempt" (a new copy of the proposed order, the same that his lawyer submitted, just taken out the extras that were not ordered during the hearing).

This way I'm officially filing my objection to his order, and I am also giving the judge another copy of the order that he could sign. Back in December, I filed a cover letter to the clerk (stating that I was submitting my own version of the proposed order for the judge to sign, due to the attorney's refusal to add the provision ordered) and the proposed order.

 

[angeleyzad]

Paralegal's input

I just heard back from my paralegal contact...she said that she could not find any statute on the books about an attorney inserting relief that was not granted by the courts, she was saying it's probably because it's ridiculous to do so, and within the Judge's power to repremand the attorney if mad enough over it.

She looked over my cover letter, my objection, and my proposed order, and said that they were appropiate, and that she could find any legal errors in them, so, I'll go and file them this afternoon before the court closes.

Wish me luck!

 

[LdiJ]

I just heard back from my paralegal contact...she said that she could not find any statute on the books about an attorney inserting relief that was not granted by the courts, she was saying it's probably because it's ridiculous to do so, and within the Judge's power to repremand the attorney if mad enough over it.

She looked over my cover letter, my objection, and my proposed order, and said that they were appropiate, and that she could find any legal errors in them, so, I'll go and file them this afternoon before the court closes.

Wish me luck!

Good luck!

 

[angeleyzad]

Good luck!

Well, well, well. I brought my objection down to the courthouse, waited patiently in line (while watching the clock, it was like 2 minutes before closing). I got up to the window, and gave the clerk my objection, told him that I had just received the proposed order Wednesday night, and I knew that the judge said that he was not going to be there for a while after Wednesday...he looked at my response, and said, "We just received the signed order from the judge this morning." My heart dropped, because I thgought I'd have to jump through hoops. Then he said "There were some changes to the order, let me go and get it." He brought it over, and low and behold, the judge himself deleted the entire third paragraph on the order! The clerk told me that if that was what my objection was over, I didn't have to file. I told him I still wanted it in the file, to show that I was against what the lawyer had done.

Needless to say, my ex is going to be pissed, and unfortunately, he'll end up taking it out on the boys, by not letting them do their baseball on his weekends. (Yes, I know it's up to him to let them do it; he did last year, and it was more of an interuption on his weekend since the games were on Saturday mornings. This year, the team they're on plays on Friday evenings...so it wouldn't be too bad for him, he could enjoy the boys playing baseball, and still have his time.) He'll think that he's getting back at me by not letting them play, when it will only hurt the boys. (He basically agreed to them playing before this whole mess started) Not much I can do about that.

Thank you again all for the input and advice. It's hard to grasp sometimes, and hard to get across what you are actually talking about (like the misunderstanding between me and GU about the "letter"). Anyway, thanks all!

 

[GrowUp!]

Well, well, well. I brought my objection down to the courthouse, waited patiently in line (while watching the clock, it was like 2 minutes before closing). I got up to the window, and gave the clerk my objection, told him that I had just received the proposed order Wednesday night, and I knew that the judge said that he was not going to be there for a while after Wednesday...he looked at my response, and said, "We just received the signed order from the judge this morning." My heart dropped, because I thgought I'd have to jump through hoops. Then he said "There were some changes to the order, let me go and get it." He brought it over, and low and behold, the judge himself deleted the entire third paragraph on the order! The clerk told me that if that was what my objection was over, I didn't have to file. I told him I still wanted it in the file, to show that I was against what the lawyer had done.

Well it looks like the Judge didn't see any merit in the attorney's motion and made a decision without you having to file a response (I've had the luck of that before, too) -- BUT it's not a good idea to assume a Judge will be proactive like this. You did the right thing filing a response, even though the Judge "beat you to it", per se.

just remember...whenever you're objection to another party's motion, you file your "objection" in the form of a court motion/response (just like if you're filing a motion for something), not an informal letter.

 

[angeleyzad]

Well it looks like the Judge didn't see any merit in the attorney's motion and made a decision without you having to file a response (I've had the luck of that before, too) -- BUT it's not a good idea to assume a Judge will be proactive like this. You did the right thing filing a response, even though the Judge "beat you to it", per se.

just remember...whenever you're objection to another party's motion, you file your "objection" in the form of a court motion/response (just like if you're filing a motion for something), not an informal letter.

yes, GU, I agree, that's why I had him put it in the file. And I realized that I cannot send a "Dear Judge" letter after posting it here - like I said, I think after that, we were just mis-communicating what the actual letter was - a cover letter, stating what was being filed - the objection and new proposed order.

Anyway, thanks again! As much as some people hate the answers (and I've been one of those), you all do generally give good advice.