When I filed for divorce and was represented by my super important lawyer, I hardly even noticed the case management conference in my case. I suppose I was there for it, but I don't remember it at all. This was very unfortunate because it is at the case management conference that you make the most important decisions you can make. One such decision, for example, is whether you and your ex are going to turn the case into a major battle or not.
Without my knowing it, my lawyer set me up for a long drawn out battle, and didn't even let me know what the other options were. Now my ex is an abuser, so I'm not sure there was any other way to go but a full out battle. Still, it would have been nice to know that there actually were other choices.
But let me back up here. This is how it goes. First you file for divorce and arrange to have a state marshall deliver the divorce papers to your soon to be ex. Then 90 days after the return date (the day the action is started, not the day of filing), the parties get together for a mandatory case management conference.
In preparation for the case management conference the parties are required to file the case management agreement form JD-FM-163.
It is at the case management conference that the judge decides upon the parameters that are going to be put in place to regulate how your case is going to be conducted. For example, the judge will decide whether your case will be referred to family relations for a custody evaluation, or whether you will have a private custody evaluator and/or a GAL.
The judge may then establish the due dates for completing discovery and financial disclosure.
Essentially, this is the time when the judge lays the groundwork for the case; mistakes that are made then will probably remain mistakes forever.
There are different ways that a case management conference is handled depending on how the parties decide to move forward with their case.
If the parties are all in agreement, i.e. the case is uncontested, literally they can go ahead and have their divorce granted right on the spot on the day of the case management conference.
However, if there are disputes over the financial issues in your divorce, the case is called a limited contested case. Those that are called fully contested cases are those which involve custody issues or issues related to parental access to a child or children.
The parties in a limited contested case are required to file 1) a case management agreement form; 2) financial affidavits; and 3) a parental responsibility plan indicating how parenting and visitation issues will be handled. In a limited contested case, if all the documents have been filed, and the agreement has been approved by the court and signed by the parties, no one has to come to court.
Fully contested cases are handled rather differently. The parties in a fully contested case are required to file 1) a case management agreement form and 2) financial affidavits. Even if all the documents have been filed, in a fully contested case the parties and their attorneys still have to come to court.
For both limited contested and fully contested cases all the discovery deadlines in Section III of the case management agreement must have written deadlines.
By the time you are at a case management conference, pretrial and trial dates have often been scheduled and you can view them on the case detail of your case on the judicial website.
The case management conference represents your first opportunity to make a strong case for obtaining the discovery and disclosure of vital financial information right from the very beginning.
I know of so many abused women who have lawyers who simply don't bother with proper requests and deadlines and make those crucial errors right at the case management conference, so as a litigant this is when you have to intervene with your lawyer and make it very clear that you want a full and thorough discovery.
Also, this is the time when you let the judge know exactly what the issues are in connection to custody. It is now that you request testing for substance abuse issues. It is now that you request exclusive use of the house because your ex is violent. It is now that you set up a strict visitation schedule that protects you from the kind of chaos and fuzzy boundaries that abusers use as weapons against you.
If you don't set a tone right away at your case management conference, trust me, you'll spend the rest of your time in court trying to catch up.
Final note: To get a copy of the Parental Responsibility Plan Form JD-FM-199 and a copy of the Case Management Agreement/Order Form JD-FM-163, go to the judicial website at: www.jud2.ct.gov, click on "self-help" at the bottom of the page and then click on "forms", also at the bottom of the page.
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