Baker, Excerpts

[Susan P. Baker] [Baker, Excerpts]

 

Excerpt from Heart of Divorce, Advice from A Judge

Chapter 4. Representing Yourself

Question: When is it okay to proceed pro se, that is, to be your own lawyer?

Answer: When you know what you are doing.

Most judges don’t like to see a pro se litigant walk through the courtroom door. Most pro se litigants do not know what they are doing and therefore cause the day’s docket to back up. In my court, I had a sheet of paper that one signed if one wanted an uncontested divorce heard during “uncontested” time from 8:30 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. daily. (This varies from court to court, check with your court’s coordinator or get a copy of the local rules from the court clerk to find out the details in your area.) When it is the pro se litigant’s turn, I frequently found several things to be a problem:

1. The petition is not in proper form.
2. There is no service on respondent or no waiver signed.
3. The waiver is signed before the petition is filed instead of after.
4. The waiting period has not passed.
5. The decree is not in proper form.
6. If children, the child support provisions are not correct.
7. If children, the periods of possession are not set out correctly.
8. If property, the division is not clear.
9. Various provisions may be drawn in such a way that they are unenforceable.
10. The decree may recite that the parties have an agreement, but there is no signature of the spouse on the decree or any separately signed agreement.
11. The litigant doesn’t know how to go through prove up. (This may or may not be required in your area.)
12. The state required statistical forms are not completed.

From Death of a Prince
A murder mystery coming in 2005.
Mother & daughter criminal defense lawyers defend the alleged murderer of a prominent attorney.

Erma Townley snuggled in her feather bed and pulled the duvet over her head. In her sleep, something annoyed her, but she resisted rising to consciousness to figure out what it was. It pulled her to the surface and released her several times until finally she stuck her head out into the refrigerated air to get a sense of it. Not the smoke alarm. Nothing burning that she could smell. She wiggled her legs and arms. Her limbs seemed to be working. There -- that sound again. The goddammed telephone. Erma lay there, hoping it would cease and desist. She counted nine rings. Finally, she pushed up her eye mask, blinded by the morning light, and reached for her baby-blue princess telephone. Whoever it was would be so sorry. “This better be goddamn good,” she growled into the receiver.
 

Inside MURDERED JUDGES:

  • WHAT COULD HAVE COMPELLED THESE CHILDREN TO STRIKE DOWN THEIR PARENTS? See Chapters 1, 8 & 12.
  • WHO FIRED THE FIRST SHOT AT THE CARROLL COUNTY COURTHOUSE? See Chapter 2.
  • WHO KILLED JUDGE WILLIS KNOWLES IN 1915? See Chapter 3. JUDGE MOODY PRICE IN 1921? See Chapter 6. JUDGE BILL WILLIAMS IN 1974? See Chapter 22. JUDGE JACK PRIZZIA IN 1976? See Chapter 27. AND JUDGE AND MRS. H. GEORGE TAYLOR IN 1999? See Chapter 42.
  • WHAT GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS TOOK THE LAW INTO THEIR OWN HANDS? See Chapters 4 & 17.
  • HOW DID THE COW KILL THE JUDGE? See Chapter 5.
  • WHY DID THE JUDGE HAVE TO PAY? See Chapters 7, 16 & 34.
  • WHERE IS JUDGE CRATER? See Chapter 9.
  • WAS IT MURDER OR SUICIDE? See Chapters 10 & 39.
  • WERE THESE KILLERS CRIMINALLY INSANE OR JUST PLAIN CRIMINALS? See Chapters 11, 21 & 33.
  • WAS THIS A CASE OF JUSTIFIABLE HOMICIDE? See Chapters 13, 15 & 22.
  • WHAT MADE AUSTIN COX SO MEAN? See Chapter 14.
  • WAS IT MURDER OR AN ACCIDENT? See Chapter 18.
  • HOW DID THE DOG KILL THE JUDGE? See Chapter 19.
  • WHO FAILED TO FOLLOW ORDERS OUTSIDE THE MARIN COUNTY COURTHOUSE? See Chapter 20.
  • WAS IT A PRANK OR INTENTIONAL MURDER? See Chapter 24.
  • WHAT MADE THE JUDGE’S FRIEND DO HIM IN? See Chapter 25.
  • WAS IT A SUICIDE PACT OR MURDER? See Chapter 26.
  • WAS THIS JUDGE KILLED BECAUSE OF HIS MOB CONNECTIONS? See Chapter 28.
  • WAS ROBBERY THE MOTIVE OR WAS THE STABBING A HIT? See Chapter 29.
  • WHO WAS “MAXIMUM” JOHN? See Chapter 30.
  • WHERE IS LAWRENCE FISHMAN? See Chapter 31.
  • WHAT MADE EDWARD MEYERS GO BERZERK? See Chapter 32.
  • HOW DID A SCAM TURN TO MURDER? See Chapter 35.
  • WHO WAS THE SECOND FEDERAL JUDGE KILLED IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY? See Chapter 36.
  • WHAT MADE MICHIGAN WOMEN SO ANGRY? See Chapter 37.
  • WHO DID NGA DUC NGUYEN INTEND TO EXECUTE? See Chapter 38.
  • WHICH JUDGES WERE KILLED BY A MAIL BOMB? See Chapters 23 & 40.
  • WHO WAS ONLY THE SECOND FEMALE JUDGE TO BE MURDERED? See Chapter 41.

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