Introduction
Last week, I began a promised four part series covering the basics of trying civil cases in each of the three Virginia trial courts. Last week's post provided an introduction to the three courts and a basic breakdown of what kinds of cases are heard in each court. This week, I will begin providing the more detailed assessment of practice in each court. Today's topic is the Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court, commonly referred to as J&DR or JDR.
Differences from County to County
It's important to know that J&DR does not have a great deal in set rules of procedures from the state, unlike the other courts. The result is that there can be some pretty substantial differences in practice from county to county. As a result, I am primarily going to be talking about how things work in Fairfax County here. That being said, most counties I have been in for J&DR appearances follow identical or very similar procedures, there being only one or two I can think of that I have practiced in whose procedures have been substantially different.
Typical Case
It's important to also note that different kinds of cases can have different procedures. This is not just a J&DR thing, that's true in all courts. As a result, in this post (and in my future posts in this series) I will be talking about a "typical" case for the most part, then have a section near the end giving the very basics of some "atypical" cases that are still important to know.
In J&DR, I would consider a "typical case" to be a case seeking to establish child custody, child visitation, child support and/or spousal support.
Step 1: File your Petition
J&DR is a "petition-based" court. This means that you are "petitioning" the court to grant you certain relief, and the case is properly captioned as "Petitioner v. Respondent" rather than "Plaintiff v. Defendant." The distinction is no longer particularly important, and if you accidentally label a pleading as "plaintiff" or "defendant," you are unlikely to get in trouble for it. Nonetheless, this is useful to know because I have found some clients to be confused by the names of various documents since they don't conform to the lawsuit language you might see on TV.
Anyways, the first step to begin a J&DR case is to file your petition. If you don't have an attorney, go to your local J&DR civil intake office, where a clerk will assist you in filling out the proper paperwork. If you do have an attorney, they will have their own forms and can skip the intake office, which is an advantage as an attorney-filed petition will generally get converted into a case file and heard by the court faster than an intake office filed petition.
Step 2: Status Conference
One of the great things about J&DR is that they will usually take care of serving all parties on their own, so this is one less thing for you to worry about. After your case is filed, the court will schedule it for what is called a "status conference." Note that some courts actually require you to pick the date of your status conference when filing and note it on your petition, so you should consider calling ahead to find out if that's the case in your court before you file.
Once scheduled, a notice setting the status conference, along with a copy of the petition, will be served on all parties (including you).
At the status conference, the judge will ask you the status of your case - specifically whether or not you and the other side have reached an agreement on the matter at issue. If so, the court will usually enter an agreed order right then and there. If not, the judge will ask you how long of a trial you think will be necessary, and then work with you to set a date for the trial.
Two important things can also happen at a status conference. First, if it's a support case, the judge might on his or her own enter an "evidence order." This is an order that requires you to bring certain documents to the trial under penalty of contempt. If an evidence order is entered, you will be given a copy, and make sure you follow it.
The other thing that can happen is that one or both parties can request that discovery be authorized. If either party requests it, the judge will usually agree, and then discovery can be conducted. For more on discovery, you can review my post on the topic.
Step 3: Preparing for trial
There will usually be a good bit of time between your status conference and your trial. During that time, you should be gathering all of your documents and evidence and lining up potential witnesses. If discovery has been authorized, you should also promptly send out discovery requests. If involved in a support case, you can also file a motion for pendente lite relief which may allow you to receive some support while your case is pending.
Step 4: Trial
A trial in J&DR is a lot like a trial in any other court. The rules of evidence, basic rules of procedure, etc. all are the same. The petitioner presents his case first, the respondent presents his second, and then the petitioner can present rebuttal evidence. J&DR courts are usually very overworked, however, and as a result will usually strictly stick to the time limit set at the status conference, so keep that in mind when preparing for trial.
In most cases, at the end the judge will not only rule, but will draft and enter an Order laying out his ruling right then and there. In some cases, he might set a short hearing date a few weeks in the future to allow you and the other side to write up the order to present to the court for entry.
Step 5: Post-trial
Remember, you have the right to appeal any J&DR ruling to the Circuit Court for a whole new trial. To take advantage of this right, you must file your Notice of Appeal in the J&DR court (the J&DR clerk will have a copy of the Notice of Appeal form) within 10 days of entry of the final order. You must also pay your appeal bond within 30 days of entry of that order.
Some "atypical" cases
As I mentioned above, not all cases follow the above-listed process. Below, I've summarized some important to know cases that do not follow this procedure.
- Protective Orders: In cases involving protective orders, the process listed above is basically not followed at all. Instead, the "Complainant" (a protective order comes from a "Complaint" instead of a "Petition") will usually go in front of a judge the day he files and get a preliminary protective order. The hearing on the final protective order then will have to be held within fifteen days. So, there's no status conference, no discovery, etc. Most courts also limit protective order hearings to 30 minutes. There is, however, still a right for the losing party to appeal to the Circuit Court, although there will be no (or a very low) appeal bond. For more on protective orders, you can review my post on the topic.
- Modification Proceedings: If, instead of filing an initial petition, you are seeking to modify an already existing order, the procedures vary dramatically from county to county. In Fairfax County, the procedures are actually largely the same, but in many counties you are required to pick the status conference date and/or you are required to serve the papers on the other side.
Practice in J&DR is, in many ways, simpler than in the other courts. You have a status conference to help guide you along to trial, and it's possible for the pre-trial process to be fairly simple. Nonetheless, J&DR is full of its own pitfalls, especially is discovery is authorized, motions filed, or similar issues come up. As a result, it is still best to proceed with an attorney. If you have a case coming up or that you wish to file in J&DR, please feel free to call (703)281-0134 or e-mail me at SLeven@thebaldwinlawfirm.com to set up a consultation. Our initial consultations are free for up to half an hour!
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