judge Archives

Last Week, My Ex Came Into Family Court Smelling of Pot but Still the Judge Favors Her Over Me. What Can I Do?

August 14, 2023

Addiction, Contempt of Court, Court Rules, Divorce Court, Divorce Fears, Substance Abuse, Utah, Utah Code, Utah Court Rules, Utah Law

drugs, ex, family court, judge, judge favor, pot, weed, what to do

Does your jurisdiction permit people to make use of marijuana recreationally? Or to make use of it with a doctor’s prescription or a “medical marijuana card”? If so, then smelling of marijuana may not be enough to cause a court…

How Long Does a Child Custody Court Hearing Take?

rprise that it usually takes much less time and effort to prepare for a proffer hearing than preparing for a full evidentiary hearing. In a proffer hearing the client won’t do much, if anything, during the actual hearing, with the…

Artificial Fraudulence

May 26, 2023

Divorce Utah

Coping With Divorce, Evidence, Family Law, Fathers' Divorce Issues, Judges, Justice and Equity, Men's Divorce Issues, Mothers' Divorce Issues, Parental Rights, Utah Law, Women's Divorce Issues

abuse, action, assets and debt, audio, authenticity, biased, concerned, deepfakes, diminution and dissipation of assets, discern, duped, email, evidence, fake, fakery, family law, fraud, genuine article, impossible, indistinguishable, infidelity, innocent, invent, judge, judges, justice, legal process, legitimate concerns, level, liars, lies, litigants, meaningless, mockery, offended, opposing counsel, outraged, paranoid, persecuting, pervasively, process, profession, proof, property damage, protect, proud, reality, records, ridiculed, scientific data, Seth Godin, shaming, sincerity, society, spread, substance abuse, surprise, system irreparably, tactics, technology, text, trust, truth, understanding, unprofessional, veracity, verify, vexatious litigator, visual, volume, whistleblower

Seth Godin stated it well when he wrote, “The ease with which someone can invent and spread lies [with advancing technology] is going to take most of us by surprise. It’s going to require an entirely new posture for understanding…

How do I file a response in a divorce if the summons is invalid?

How do I file a response in a divorce if missing the court’s address for filing invalidates the summons? Be very careful getting cute with procedural technicalities. If you were served with a summons that is defective only because it…

What’s it called when a judge gives a party an illegal advantage?

August 3, 2022

Divorce Utah

Judges, Justice and Equity

advantage, etymology, judge, law, legal, legal system, party to an action, prefix, prejudice, prejudicial, suffix, unfair advantage

I believe one term you may be thinking of is “prejudice.” The word “prejudice” has a particular meaning in the law. According to Black’s Law Dictionary (the bible of legal definitions): 2. A preconceived judgment or opinion formed with little…

Is there anything that can surprise a judge during a divorce proceeding?

Is there anything that can surprise a judge during a contested divorce proceeding? Of course. We’ve all read about cases where all of the circumstantial evidence indicated the defendant is guilty, only to be surprised in the eleventh hour some…

What is the argument for hearing a child’s view in a custody decision?

What argument supports taking the views of a child into account when making custody determination? The argument is this: the judge cannot determine if such evidence is relevant if the judge never actually has such evidence to consider. In Utah (where I practice divorce…

Law from a legal assistant’s point of view, week 34: Electing judges

March 8, 2022

Divorce Utah

Judges, Justice and Equity, Lawyers, Legal Assistant, Legal System, Utah, Utah Code, Utah Law

attorney, elections, judge, judges, lawyer, legal assistant, legal clerk, legal secretary, US government

Law from a legal assistant’s point of view, week 34: Electing judiciary officials By Quinton Lister, legal assistant I mentioned in a previous post that if I were to build my own legal system that I would make all judiciary…

Law from a legal assistant’s point of view, week 30: Good Judges

February 8, 2022

Divorce Utah

Judges, Justice and Equity, Lawyers, Legal Assistant, Legal System, Utah, Utah Code, Utah Court Rules, Utah Law

good judges, judge, judges, justice and equity, legal assistant, legal clerk, legal secretary, reform

By Quinton Lister, legal assistant In the course of my 7 months as a legal assistant to a divorce attorney in Utah, I have already shared some of my thoughts on the role of judges. I have come to…

What if a parent sued their child for all the money they spent raising them?

January 28, 2022

Divorce Utah

Child Care Costs, Child Care/Surrogate Care, Child Support, Judges, Parent Time, Parental Fitness, Parental Rights, Uncategorized

child, Child Support, family finances, finances, judge, lawsuit, parent, parenting, sue

What would happen if a parent were to sue a child for every single penny they spent on raising such a child and the judge were to rule in the parent’s favor? You’d likely have an incompetent and/or biased judge. …

Law from a legal assistant’s point of view, week 25: Roots

January 4, 2022

Divorce Utah

Judges, Justice and Equity, Lawyers, Legal Assistant, Legal System

attorney, equity, injustice, judge, justice, law, lawyer, legal assistant, legal field, legal reform

By Quinton Lister, legal assistant It is hard to change any undesirable thing without looking at and understanding its fundamental components. For instance, with addiction, the issue is often not the behavior itself. The addiction is frequently covering up a…

What are some ways to not appear judgmental as a lay witness?

December 29, 2021

Divorce Utah

Court Rules, Lawyers, Legal System, Testimony, Witness

court, facts, hearing, judge, lawyers, lay witness, testimony, trial, witness

What are some examples of how to not appear judgmental as a lay witness in court? Tell the !@#$% truth, not stories you hope will dupe the court into doing what you want or what the party who called you…

What is the percentage of people who commit/are prosecuted for perjury?

December 17, 2021

Divorce Utah

Court Rules, Evidence, Expert Witnesses, Testimony, Witness

crime, getting caught, illegal, judge, lawyer, lying under oath, perjury, prosecution

What percentage of people lie while under oath in a courtroom, and how often does someone get prosecuted for perjury? Re: What percentage of people lie under oath in a courtroom: If anyone knows this, I don’t know who he/she/they…

Law from a legal assistant’s point of view, week 21: Never

December 7, 2021

Divorce Utah

Court Orders, Court Rules, Judges, Lawyers, Legal Assistant, Legal System, Pro se (representing yourself)

attorney, counsel, court, due process, judge, law, lawyer, legal assistant, legal system, pro se

By Quinton Lister, legal assistant I am still new at my job. I have only been a legal assistant since Summer of 2021, but I know for myself that I would never go to court representing myself. There is simply…

What are the biggest mistakes lawyers make when presenting their case?

October 28, 2021

Divorce Utah

Court Orders, Court Rules, Judges, Lawyers

arguments, attorney, case, court, judge, jury, law, lawyer, trial

What are some of the biggest mistakes lawyers make when presenting their case to a jury? Being long-winded, repetitive, rambling, imprecise, boring. But here’s the kicker: if you are clear and concise, then what you think are “in the bag”…

Have cameras in a courtroom ever resulted in one of the attorneys or judge asking for the equivalent of an “instant replay in football”?

August 19, 2021

Divorce Utah

Evidence

attorneys, cameras, court proceedings, courtroom, fact, facts, footage, gestures, instant replay, judge, viewable, visual

Yes, in a manner of speaking. There are many examples of court room camera footage being referred to help establish facts that can only be verified based upon the visual record and not the audio record of what occurred in…

Does a family court judge know when a parent is being malicious?

Rarely, and when the judge does know, it’s usually because the other parent’s malicious behavior is so way over the top as to be impossible to detect or ignore or plausibly deny. Indeed, many courts in divorce and child custody…

Law from a legal assistant’s point of view, week 4: Trial by fire

By Quinton Lister, Legal Assistant I attended my first trial this past week. I did not question any witnesses or argue the case at the trial or anything like that because I am not a lawyer (I’m a legal assistant), and it was fascinating to experience. The trial was…

Ward v. McGarry – 2021 UT App 51

Ward v. McGarry – 2021 UT App 51 NOTICE: THIS OPINION HAS NOT BEEN RELEASED FOR PUBLICATION IN THE PERMANENT LAW REPORTS. UNTIL RELEASED, IT IS SUBJECT TO REVISION OR WITHDRAWAL. Court of Appeals of Utah. Sara WARD, Appellant, v. Meredith MCGARRY, Appellee. …

When do trial lawyers most feel like “they are reading tea leaves”?

In my personal experience, most of the time, with most judges. I’m a divorce and family lawyer in Utah, and family law gives judges such broad discretion that even those to whom their broad discretion has not gone to their…

Tag: judge