Court Mediator

Question: Can i hire a Private Investigator to check a certain someone who's suing me for car accident? i am getting sued for a car accident and my insurance mentioned something like they would take care of it and it'll probably be taken care of out of court. i just got served the papers yesterday and they mention something about still sustaining physical injury for a car accident almost a year ago.and emotional injury. but my insurance guy told me they only have superficial injury and little bruises. would it be legal for me to hire a PI to check/take pics of them see if they are doing anything that would prove they are not suffering..etc.

Answer: It's not illegal, but really it's out of your hands. The insurance will deal with it, it's what you hire them for. You'll just add unecessary expense that you don't need to. If there is a one year statute of limitations in your state for property damage or physical injury, then your getting served is probably just a formality to preserve the statute, unless the claimant isn't being represented by an attorney and has no idea what they are doing. In that case, it's win win for you. Really, I wouldn't worry too much.

Question: Can I notice court of clear error, ask for new hearing de novo? Have order suspended pending the new hearing? I'm pro se defendant in custody dispute in Hawaii. I asked that CIU investigate and was granted the court investigator. At hearing CIU recommended that wife have sole physical and legal custody. I objected to the report in part because investigation was incomplete as investigator did not interview visitation supervisor. Supervisor was there at my subpena. I was not allowed to put visitation supervisor on stand as it was not an evidentiary hearing. Judge called recess while CIU spoke with the supervisor. The law required, because of the objection that the investigator be made available for cross exam. The judge put the investigator on the stand and asked her if speaking with the visit supervisor, she learned anything that would change her recommendations. She said no. I asked to cross exam as required by law. I was not allowed to. Prior to this hearing I had joint legal custody as to medical issues, a key issue in the history of my care for our child. Now I lost this. In deciding the best interest of the child, it must be done in accordance to law. My due process right to cross exam was violated. This is not a final order as trial is still future. But, this error casts the die which will effect the final outcome, as now I no longer am involved in my child's medical care. Do I need to file a notice now, of intent to appeal after final judgment is made. Or can I only do that after final judgment? Also can I file a motion demanding the hearing be re-heard de novo? If so, can I have the current court order suspended until after the new hearing. whitefangz1, I think on cross I could have shown that she was basing her opinion on evidence that was now (with the interview of the supervisor) shown to be false. Which I think the investigator now realizes. Which is why a hearing de novo would actually be better then saving this for appeal. Further, and on other grounds I also objected to, the investigator failed to look into the need for joint med custody, this was lost in the investigator's focus on visitation. Joint med custody was important because I was the parent treating the baby for a medical condition. Even got a court order to enforce that when my wife refused treatment. The investigator was unaware of the order as she did not read the brief I sent her advising her of it. prior to this I had joint med custody

Answer: You have already made your objection to the court and the court has already ruled on it. You could file a motion to have the current court order suspended, but it will be decided on by the same judge and I think you know how that will go. Filing a notice of intent to appeal now would be jumping the gun, and could give the other side ideas for their own appeal should the court ultimately rule in your favor. Wait until the proceeding is over. If you disagree with the final ruling AND believe that the procedural error significantly affected the outcome, then file the appeal. Seeing as how they ultimately did have the investigator speak with the visitation supervisor and they stated that it had no impact on their opinion, this a very weak grounds for an appeal and you will have trouble convincing the judge that your questions to this witness would have affected the outcome. On a personal note, let me state that the reason judges often hate when someone represents themselves in court is that they get so bogged down in the technicalities and tend to over-object, over-file motions, and tend to add too much significance to minor issues. The main issue here is to decide what is in the best interest of your child. The correct answer to that question is not going to be determined by minor procedural issues. Be honest with yourself. If you had cross examined this witness, don't you think they would have simply re-stated the same opinion that they already gave? Do you have some smoking gun that was going to blast their credibility on the stand and cast doubt upon their testimony? You're getting yourself bogged down on a minor procedural matter that is not likely to affect the outcome. your best bet is to back off a bit and look at the bigger picture to see where your energy may be better focused. You need to convince the court that you having custody or partial custody is in the best interest of the child. your current line of action isn't likely to do that. Find something that will be more effective.

Question: what should i expect in custody court? my wife and i went to a court mediator on mon. she went in and said i dont want any thing to do with my son so i went and had the custody papers filed with the court now just 4 days latter she calls and is going to fight over him ive had him for going on 5 months now i bag her to see him and have all the emails were i did so she has lost 1 place to live allmost had her power shut off had her phone and water turned off she has told alot of peple he is better here or shes not a kid person she just cant dill with him she even told me that social services said she could not see him i called them and they said they did not say that she went 1 month that time me i lived in same house now for about 1 yr now and all my bills are payed when i go to court what will happen she said she wants him every other wk end thats ok with me but she may change her mind what do i tell the court and how do i tell them what do i nead to show

Answer: You better show the courts her instability to control her own life for the sake of your son. She needs professional help here to regain control before shes responsible for your son. You may just go for supervised visits for now until she can show stability

Question: does a mother suffer no consequences for withholding a fathers court ordered visitations? the mother of my child is withholding my daughter from me because i wont talk to her without a mediator. All because my daughter went home and had some behavior issues. the mother blames me and says i cant see her till we sit down and talk. the mother has said all the courts will do is send us to mediation and thats it. what can i do i dont understand the court system at all. sincerly Aaron C

Answer: A mediator is also in your best interest (as a professional witness) so you can see your daughter. That might be a more reasonable place to talk about 'behaviours'.

Question: What are my rights for having a court-ordered meeting? Im a 14 year old girl, and my dad wants full custody of me. i have to see a mediator and talk to him about whoi want to live with. Is there any way i can use my ammendment rights to reject meeting with him? What are my rights that have anything involved with this?

Answer: If Memory serves me right, the court sees you as a capable young girl, who can make certain decisions regarding your own life, with reasonable confidence. depends what the mediator is there for. if the court has ordered the mediator to keep you from any outside interference with your decision (ie parents trying to talk you into making the decision to stay with them) then I think the court might respect your wishes and let you do what you think is right. If I may say so right now, it saddens me to hear that you are being faced with this. you seem like an intelligent girl who will make the right decision for herself. You can have a bright future ahead of you, stay strong, God will provide.

Question: is a attorney that was a mediator of a divorce becomes council for one breaking the law? if he becomes council for one person of the mediation is he breaking the law?he was not court appointed

Answer: No he is not breaking the law. He is, in all likelihood, violating the state's rules of ethics/professional responsibility. In a mediation, he has access to privileged information of both parties. As such, it generally creates a conflict of interests for him to subsequently represent one of the two parties in litigating the matter. The other side should file a petition with the court to disqualify him as the attorney.

Question: i was court ordered to attend mediation but cannot afford it what can I do? I have asked the judge if we could just see her and I have asked the mediator for a paymnt plan nothing is working but I dont have 400 dollars for two hours of arguing to shell out. I have just filed bankrupt as well

Answer: The court can order you to attend mediation, but it cannot order you to settle your case. Nor can it order you to pay money you don't have. So show up for the mediator. Tell the mediator you have no money, and then leave. Let the other side pay their half for whatever time the mediator used up.

Question: Hey I'm owed money. The person I took to small claims court was found guilty and agreed to pay me my money? Hey I took someone to small claims court last thursday because they owed me money, We ended up speaking to a mediator and the defendant agree to pay and signed a document saying that he would pay within ten days. The ten days are up and I haven't been payed, what can I do to obtain my money? Thanks in advance.

Answer: The agreement is probably unenforceable. You are probably out of luck. You may have to break a knee cap, that will get his attention.

Question: I am going to court tomorrow...? It's the trial date for my divorce. The court appointed mediator asked for the date to be delayed because she felt that we could come to an agreement. The judge stills want's to see us in court. I filed in late June in New Jersey do they not give you every chance to mediate? Do you think this will be over tomorrow?

Answer: Don't know the answer, but hope you're not too down about it. Life moves on..... It's short have fun and be happy!

Question: Daughter is 15 her father after has filed for visitation. Mediator says she has no say in visitation.True? Father has faithfully paid child support but my daughter doesnt want to see him for visitation. After 15 years of no court attemp for visitation can he just walk back into her life and make her go.

Answer: *** Possibly, and as for him not wanting to see her for 15 years, I tend to take such claims with a pound of salt. Do you fear her learning that he actually tried seeing her and finally gave up after several court hearings? That happens in over 60% of the cases.

Question: does the court ever deny psychological evaluation of the child? i recently moved to va from cali and am still in the process of going to court over custody of my 6yr old son. In mediation, the only thing we disagreed on was who the child would stay with for the school yr and who he would be with for school breaks. In court, the mediator's reccommendation was that I be allowed to move with the child and the father have visitation. My ex got an attorney is now claiming I'm bipolar, a bad parent, i have health issues and brought up my past. The court allowed me to move because of my job transfer and started my son's summer visit with his dad there in cali. My ex's attorney is now requesting a psychological evaluation of our son which will postpone the trial and cost me more time from work and change the flights etc because it will change the trial dates. I was never married to my son's father, we seperated in july 2006. I informed my ex in feb. of 2008 that I wanted to move in june 2008. We had no legal custody agreement that whole time.

Answer: Why would you want the court to deny psychological evaluation of your son? If you have nothing to hide then it will show he is healthy and happy and there is no reason for him not to be in primary residence with you. Can your attorney request an expedited psych eval so you do not have to change your flights and time off from work? Why is it costing additional time off from work? Can you not simply change your dates -- working when you had previously requested time off and leaving later when the trial is? Whom was your son living with mostly after you separated in 2006? That will have a lot of bearing on the case. You can get your own eval of yourself to rule out bipolar disorder although simply having bipolar is absolutely no reason to transfer custody anyway. I have bipolar and am deeply offended anyone would think it makes someone a bad parent. I have three kids who are happy and loving and I am their primary parent because their father works long hours as a contractor -- though he is an involved dad too -- and we are married so we both live her obviously and they see us both daily. ANYWAY...if you want to rule out bipolar disorder it should be easy to do. Make an appointment with a psychiatrist or clinical psychologist. If you are bipolar submit a statement to the court about how you are treating it successfully. If you are doing well on the career side of things then it is almost certain that the symptoms of bipolar are not ruling your life even if you do have it. Most bipolars cannot hold steady work much less a career where they will transfer you to use your talents in a new location.

Question: Can I be sued a second time by the same person for not paying on a judgment in civil court? I was sued by my ex roommate and I sued him back in the same case but I ended up being the defendant in the civil suit..When we went to court a few weeks ago we dealt with a mediator instead of waiting to see the judge.My ex roommate said I owed him $2000 for unpaid rent and I was suing him for stealing my furniture when I moved out of the apartment we had shared. I left 5 months early on a 12 month lease(he actually never paid me for any utilties that were all in my name, he also never paid rent when I gave him my money very single month). When I moved my furniture out he called the police over and lied to them stating that the furniture that I owned was his and that he bought it in 2009 when in fact my parents bought it back in 1994 when I was 10yrs old...I'm now 25.. My furniture was worth $3000 and was in great condition and I filed a police report even tho my brother saw that he tried selling my furniture on craigslist 2 months before I went to court but I had no proof it was actually sold. In court The mediator decided I owed $2000 and that the roommate give me back my furniture. I had to pay him in increments and he had to give me 2 peices of my furniture in exchange on a certain date but each time, I have to pay him a week before he is ordered up with my furniture. A week after the court judgement we were texting eachother and he admitted he no longer had my furniture but expected me to still pay him. The first payment is due in a few days and I know if I pay him $700 I will never get my furniture back(everyone who knows him agrees). He made money off my parents furniture and he also owes me $1800 for a security deposit for the apartment he still lives in and his lease is up in March but I heard in new jersey he has 30 days to give it back once his lease is up and then I can file a seperate suit. So I've lost money and furniture to this guy and I'm still expected to pay him in a week. Does anyone know if I have to pay him or if I dont what happens? If he sues me for not paying can I use the evidence of the text message where he admitted he didnt have my furniture? and also the craigslist links that shows him trying to sell my furniture?..which has his name on it. The court wont give me legal advice and I cant afford a lawyers advice. Of course u didnt..HE IS NOT living up to his side of the deal..he is suppose to return my furniture when i give him the money. He told me he doesnt have it. he sold it. So I'm thinking of not payin him. Better???

Answer: Actually, I DID read all of those details. But I have to agree.... It doesn't matter - a judgment is a judgment - and if you were ordered to pay $2000, then you have to pay. If he was ordered to return the furniture, then he has to return it. Just because he doesn't return it does NOT relieve you of the burden of having to pay the $2000. If EITHER of you fail to do what was ordered, then the party that didn't get what they were supposed to get can go back to court and the non-paying party can have their wages garnished, and any assets they have seized by the courts. In this case, you are wrong for not paying. He is wrong for not giving back your property. Two wrongs don't make it right, nor does his inability/unwillingness to do right make it okay for you to violate your end of the judgment. Pay - and then take his butt to court again. You are guaranteed to win!

Question: Who “finalizes” court documents? Say two people go to mediation for a custody agreement and the woman agrees, the man agrees. The mediator signs off on it. Does that make it official? Or does a judge still need to sign off on it in order to make it final? Any help you can give is appreciated! I have a feeling our court order isn’t valid.

Answer: According to the mediator when I went to court ---- they send it over to the judge and he finalizes it and sends copies to the parties households if they don't show to court.

Question: how to contact mediators or negotiators for out of court settlement of cases in india? want to know how to get in touch with mediators or negotiators. article in The Week few weeks ago mentioned this. to resolve cases out of court, quickly and hasselfree.where are the locations of such people and anyone in karnataka ?

Answer: Sorry I sure don't...L

Question: in California, family law mediator? I Have an upcoming court appearance. most likely, in my favor. I'm Just wondering if what the mediator has written down, goes in court, even if the mediator themself is not present? Do they rule together, or does the judge read all the stuff the mediator has gathered? It seems like that stuff the mediator writes down, goes somewhere and serves some purpose, is it for court? or do they just keep their paperwork private? Thank you so much!

Answer: I just went through the process with my ex-girlfriend. You apparently have already went through orientation and both of you spoke with the Mediator. You never said if you and your ex agreed on anything? If you and your ex didn't agree, the the Mediator will make recommendations to the judge based on his own judgment. When you go to court the Judge will make the decision on what if any of the mediator's reccomentdations to implement. Regardless, the Judge will award Joint Physical and Joint Legal custody to both of you, but only one of you will get primary residents (i.e. the default home and the person will get child support) and Child support will be determined. I am from Indiana, my girlfriend fled to file in California. She actually did me a favor, because had she filed in Indiana I would only be awarded every other weekend. California is a presumed Joint Physical/Joint Legal state. Now I get him nearly 50% of the time. :)

Question: Should I use a mediator? My husband and I are getting a divorce and our attorney suggested using a Mediator instead of going through a court hearing. What does a mediator do? Is it better to go in that direction?

Answer: A friend of mine used a mediator and it worked well for them. If you and your (soon to be ex) husband can talk things out and are civil to each other, then it may be something to look at. Its best to agree on everything before hand and then go to the mediator with what you and your (ex) husband have worked out. Keep in mind that if there are any children involved then the courts will set aside any child support and/or alimony. You will still have to go to court to have the marriage dissolved by a judge.

Question: My friend is refusing to go through her custody battle court ordered meditation, will she go to jail? Her ex is taking her through a 2nd custody batle. My friend won the first one, now her teenage son wants to live with dad. She doesn't want to pay the mediator, so she called her lawyer and outright refused to go. This will cause her to be in contempt of court. Will she go to jail? Any thoughts or ideas greatly appreaciated.

Answer: A custody battle is what we call civil litigation - not criminal. She will not get arrested for not appearing. What will happen is: she will likely lose parental rights and she likely have to pay child support to the father. Also, because it is a mediation, the mediator will recommend to the court how to proceed. The court will likely approve the recommendation. Bottom line is your friend thinks she is saving money by not attending but she will likely lose a lot more in child support she will have to pay the father. If you can talk to her and see if you can help her understand how important attending the mediation is... If money is a problem for your friend have her talk to the mediator.

Question: Child Support: Going to court Vs. Mediation? Im trying to think of the options of going to court vs. visting with a legal mediator. If i take my daughters father (ex fiance) to court for child support, im worried that they may only assign him the minimum child support payments. My cousin and her ex went to a mediator and i honestly think she got more out of it than she would have in the state court system. He already pays me $300 a month but I need more. I think he would be willing to go to a mediator. Any advice would be great. Thank you.

Answer: You wanting more does not mean he can pay more, it depends on his income. I always advise mediation, but trying to coarse him into paying more than he can afford could be considered abusive. http://mediation_n_family_court.dads-house.org/ CHILD CUSTODY http://docs.dads-house.org/RightsDuties&Responsilities.pdf http://joint-custody-case.dads-house.org/ http://cooperative-parenting.dads-house.org/ http://bird-nest-custody.dads-house.org/ http://child-choosing-custody-parent.dads-house.org/ \\\\\\\\\\\\

Question: free legal advice child custody in pennsylvania? I am fighting a custody battle for my ten year old daughter. There are some things I don't understand. How do you know if your attorney is doing all they can for you. Mine didn't even read the papers I mailed him. Also when there is court mediator, like a psychologist, that each parent pays to have speak with your child, shouldn't they ask more than four questions??

Answer: It sounds like you don't have confidence in your attny. Perhaps you need a 2nd opinion. Your attny should be able to provide the understanding you require.

Question: In Civil Court Can You Seek Damages Above Monies Owed? A company owes me $3,000 for furniture they never delivered from May 2006. I do not want to go to court, but at this point, I see no other option. (I even requested a BBB mediator to no avail). My question is two-fold. #1 Could I send a demand letter to the furniture company stating that if they do not settle out of court and should they be found guilty in court—they will owe me an additional $1000 for court fees, transportation, lawyer fees, and missed work. #2 Secondly, would the court support this and if so what is the best way to go about presenting my NJ case.

Answer: (1) Send the demand letter, requesting your $$ back; however, do not say that you will request punitive damages if they do not settle, give them a time limit to respond say 1 month to 6 weeks, then file suit. (2) if you sue, then ask for court cost and lawyer fees (missed work and transportationcannot be recovered under the law)and ask for punitive damages (do not specify an amount, the court might give you more or less than the $1000.00 you are seeking ) the court can award punitive damages if the actions of the company was wrong. I WOULD CHECK AND SEE IF THIS COULD BE TAKEN TO A NJ SMALL CLAIMS COURT, THAT WAY YOU WOULD NOT NEED AN ATTORNEY.