PRETRIAL PRATFALLS

Yesterday, as I drove to White Cloud, Michigan for a status conference in Newaygo County Circuit court, I had pa-lenty of time to recall  a few of the more interesting status conference/pretrial experiences of my career.

There was a time when Wayne County Circuit judges did not have individual dockets.  That time is hard for even me to remember.  Judges went to individual dockets in "waves" of 8 judges at a time.  Initially, the system provided for in person status conferences on all cases.  More about that later in this piece.  After a comparatively short time, the in person  conference was replaced by the routine entry of a scheduling order sent to the parties.  The one exception to that rule involved a particular judge, hereinafter referred to as Judge A, who insisted on the in person status conference.

These conferences were set for 8:30am, but seldom if ever started at that time.  Litigants would mill about the courtroom and outside hallway until 9:15 or so, when the court officer would come out into the hall and require all persons having a case with Judge A to come into the courtroom.  The courtroom door was thereafter closed.  About 10 minutes later, the first case would be called, and those attorneys would be ushered into the judge's chambers.

Litigants finally figured out what was happening.  The judge's courtroom was on the river side of the City County Building, but the special judge's elevator was located on the Larned Street side of the building.  An arriving "riverside" judge would have to cross the public hallway in full view of the great unwashed (attorneys) to get to the private entrance to chambers.  Therefore, everyone would know when the judge reported for work.  Not great for Judge A's rep if attorneys saw the judge come in 45 minutes after the time appointed for the hearing.  So, let no one see the judge arrive and the fiction of the judge's prompt arrival was preserved.

Depending on Judge A's mood, at the conference you had to know everything about your case, or nothing.  In the former case, you had better know such things as your client's date of birth and weight without having to consult the file.  I went in prepared, therefore, even telling the opposition that I could provide my client's favorite color (it was always cerulean, by the way) if asked.

However, it was just as likely you would need to know nothing about your case.  Judge A would issue a standard set of orders,with predetermined dates to the parties.  While the standard Wayne County Circuit Court scheduling orders provided Tracks 1, 2 or 3, this judge's standard was Track .6.  I would often say that Judge A preferred that the parties would complete discovery pre-accident.

Sometimes Judge A would not personally handle the in person status conference.  That task might be left to a judicial assistant or, on a few occasions, the judge's court reporter.

To digress, when in person status conferences were standard, one judge, hereinafter Judge B, would have his court officer handle the conferences.  On more than one occasion, that officer told me he didn't think much of the case.  I remember going back to the office, pleased that I had a good day in court, as Judge B's court officer decided not to summary me out at the status conference.

To get back to Judge A, settlement conference dates were set at the the status conference.  Settlement conference 1 would be on a Mon.-Thurs. about 42 days after case evaluation.  Settlement conference 2 would be set for the Friday of the same week.  Trial would be set for the Monday thereafter.

I remember being at a status conference with 2 other attorneys when the settlement conference and trial dates were announced by the judge.  One of the attorneys started to giggle, thinking that this was intended to be a joke.  The attorney looked around the room and saw that none of the other lawyers were laughing.  She quickly stifled the giggle.

More about motion practice before Judge A in a future post.

Judge James Rashid was one of the "first wave" of judges that went to an individual docket and as luck would have it I had a status conference with him on the first occasion such conferences were held in the Circuit.  As those who know Judge Rashid, as a judge or mediator (great at both), he will take time with his cases.  Therefore, the 11:30 status conference did not start at 11:30, or 12:30 or even 1:30.

Back in those days, I was also my firm's "generalist", a position to which I had been appointed after I started what I had thought was to be a totally personal injury docket.  I had over 250 cases at the time, and nobody could (or would if they could) cover my conflicts.

On the day of my status conference I also had a 1:30 First Meeting of Creditors in bankruptcy court, which I believe were held in the now demolished Lafayette Building in Detroit, a 10-15 minute walk from the CCB.  Back then, no cell phones, no email.  So, I traipsed back and forth between courts signing in and checking the status on both cases, advising each court and my client of my status in the other.  Neither hearing went on time.  My status conference was finally called at about 2pm, and thereafter I rushed  back to Bankruptcy court.  A block away, I was met on the street by my client who said "I want to kill you".  She did say it with a half smile on her face, so I was pretty sure that nothing too bad had happened at the actual hearing, which was a relief.  No credit card attorney had tried to extract a reaffirmation agreement in my absence.  

I did continue on to the court and explained what had happened, apologizing profusely.  I thought all was well until I received a Show Cause Order requiring me to appear in court to explain why I should not be held in contempt for non-appearance.

I filed a written response, wherein I went into great detail regarding that day's events, and the lack of adverse consequences for the client.  

The day of the hearing came, and I appeared before Judge Steven Rhodes, not really prepared for whatever might happen. The Show Cause was called, and I could see Judge Rhodes reading my submission.  When he was finished, he looked up at me and said, "It looks like you had a bad day".  Show Cause dismissed.

Fortunately, in Newaygo County yesterday, both opponent and judge were professional and courteous, and the only drama involved some rather interesting weather conditions on the way back.