Is a Pretrial Hearing Right for Your Case?
Divorce outcomes are often determined by a judge, however throughout my years as a divorce attorney, there have been many times that pretrial hearings have been used as a less formal way to resolve cases before a final divorce trial.
Pretrial hearings are a valuable step within many divorce cases. They help familiarize the court with the pertinent issues of a case. They can assist in settling a divorce case before the case goes to trial.
What Is A Pretrial Hearing?
A pretrial hearing occurs before a trial actually begins. The timing varies as the pretrial hearing may occur months before the trial date or on the day of trial before the first witness testifies. In some cases, there are multiple pretrial hearings at different stages of the case.
These hearings are more informal than going to trial and most often take place in the judge’s chambers. As a general rule, the attorneys meet with the judge without their clients in the room.
The goal of the hearing is to present the case and get a sense for how the judge will rule if the case goes to trial. This is a time for the lawyers and judge to discuss all of the details of a case, or at times, just certain main issues. These issues may be temporary in nature (e.g., administrative issues) or they could be the global issues that are central to the resolution of a case (e.g., custody, visitation, allocation of property, or support issues).
At a pretrial conference, each divorce attorney presents the judge with their respective position on an issue and the facts supporting this position. The judge listens to each side and then makes a recommendation as to how matters should be settled. The parties are not obligated to accept this recommendation.
Which Judge is at the Pretrial Hearing?
The answer to this question varies. In Cook County, Illinois, some Chicago divorce cases are assigned to specific judges. For these cases, the judge present at a pretrial conference is also the same judge who will ultimately preside over the case at trial. Some cases, however, are not on individual judge calendars. Rather, a case may be assigned to a team. In this case, the judge who hears a pretrial will not generally be the same judge who hears the ultimate trial.
Judges use pretrial hearings to help him or her understand what issues still need to be resolved at the trial.
Can a Case Be Settled at a Pretrial Hearing?
In a word, yes. Pretrial conferences can be a very helpful tool in settling a divorce case before actually going to trial. As stated above, a judge offers his or her recommendation on an issue, or issues. This recommendation often includes the judge’s guide as to how the court believes the parties should settle their issues. This guide can be useful in finding a common ground for the parties to agree on prior to trial.
There are no limits as to the number of pretrials that can take place in a given case. This also helps in settlement. Multiple pretrials can be utilized as a tool to assist in multiple attempts at settlement. Pretrial hearings are often conducted prior to a final trial. In my experience, these hearings are definitely beneficial to all of the parties involved.
Please contact me if I can answer any of your questions concerning a pretrial hearing.
