As most readers know yours truly is a primary domestic relations attorney with a smattering of other civil litigation matters that have me in court quite frequently but I never practice in the criminal courts…until yesterday. One of my Cook County Domestic Relations Lawyer Referral Program court appointment cases got transferred to 26th & California. It’s the only one of these “contempt appointments” that is seeking indirect criminal contempt (99% of domestic relations contempt cases are indirect civil contempt). So the family law judge overseeing the underlying dissolution of marriage wanted a judge more well-versed in criminal procedrue handling the case.
It was eye-opening and a bit ironic. I’m sitting in the courtroom for an hour or so before my case got called waiting for the other lawyer and I’m seeing murder defendants and unlawful use of firearms defendants, ect. And then our case, a purely tactical filing related to bickering spouses and alleged communication that occurred contrary to a court order. A couple e-mail messages never killed a man! But I’m actually happy with the venue change. This judge is dealing with real criminal actions and isn’t going to mess around with some bickering spouses that somehow ended up on his lap.
October 12, 2009
[...] As the defendant’s lawyer I had a pleasant experience…I thought my case was strong. Here’s a previous post about the case. Ruling to come next month so we’ll really see how “pleasant” it really was in [...]