June 12, 2015

Judge Forgot Divorce Case for 20 Months!

Delays in a divorce case can happen for a lot of reasons and cause frustration for everyone involved. In today’s story, one case got delayed by 20 months. It wasn’t because of the couple. It was the judge’s fault!

A judge in Arkansas has been reprimanded for the incident. A man had his divorce assigned to the judge in 2011 and filed a complaint in 2013 for the lack of progress on the case. The court discovered that the judge took the case file home to study it and lost it.

The judge has agreed to a set of corrective actions including a quarterly docket review. He’s also been barred from taking domestic relations cases. To the judge’s credit, the commission investigating the matter said the judge was open and candid about what happened and that the judge had served his district well.

One wonders why either party’s lawyers didn’t get involved to ask what was taking the court so long! Perhaps they represented themselves? The story doesn’t have that kind of detail. A good lawyer on your side can grease the wheels of justice by processing paperwork in a timely manner and reminding the court of their cases if there is no response.

If you are seeking a speedy divorce, don’t represent yourself. Get a divorce lawyer on your side like the lawyers at Elise Buie Family Law Group, PLLC.

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