On
May 12, 2016, the 3rd Circuit Court launched its Pre-Judgment Pilot
Program. A committee led by Judge
Kathleen McCarthy, Presiding Judge of the Family Division, developed the
program to determine whether conference-style meetings that actively involve parents,
legal counsel, and an assigned judicial team including the referee, mental
health clinician, and support specialist will result in more positive outcomes
for families and reduce recurring litigation.
The team approach allows the parties to build a relationship of trust with
each other and the friend of the court.
The
team is working with Oakland University on a formal research project that will
track the cases over a two-year period to compare the level of litigation on pilot
program cases with traditionally litigated pre-judgment cases. In addition to tracking the success of
conference-style meetings versus traditional litigation, the pilot program
streamlines the traditional process used by the Wayne County Friend of the
Court to handle pre-judgment motion filings.
Traditionally,
when pre-judgment motions involving custody or parenting time without child
support are filed, the assigned referee conducts a hearing and issues a recommendation
addressing the non-child support issues.
When a pre-judgment motion/objection is filed requesting child support,
a referee hearing is scheduled on the court’s expedited docket. The parties first meet with a domestic relations
referee who discusses child support and other issues such as custody and
parenting time. Ultimately, the domestic
relations referee makes a temporary recommendation addressing custody, child
support, and parenting time. The parties
may accept or reject the recommendation.
If either party objects to any of the issues addressed in the friend of
the court recommendation, they appear before a referee who hears arguments on
the record and ultimately issues a recommendation within 21 days. Parties must file any objection within 21 days
of the date the recommendation was mailed to them.
Because
the referee, mental health expert, and support specialist are present during
the conference, regardless of the relief requested in the parties’ motion, the
parties will address custody, child support, and parenting time issues pursuant
to MCL 722.24(1), as well as any other issues. The pilot program is set up to be much less
intimidating for litigants, especially those who are not represented, with all
participants sitting together at the table.
Parties are scheduled for a pilot-program conference in a dedicated time
slot and do not have the stress of competing with other cases or “airing their
dirty laundry” in open court. They are
also given the contact information for their team.
In order to properly screen cases, the mental health
specialist meets with each party individually to assess whether there are
concerns about domestic violence, child abuse, substance abuse, or mental
illness. The mental health specialist
also assesses whether it is necessary to complete a custody/parenting time evaluation;
which would occur at a different date.
If both parties are represented by counsel, the referee meets with the
attorneys to discuss outstanding issues and potential resolutions. The support specialist simultaneously reviews
the parties’ income information and inputs the information into MiCSES.
Once the mental health professional is finished screening
the parties, the judicial team, litigants, and attorneys come together to
discuss the issues and potential resolutions.
In some cases, for safety reasons, the parties are kept in separate
rooms. The referee issues a friend of
the court recommendation and the parties are given the opportunity to agree or
object to all or a portion of the recommendation. Any objections are noted on the
recommendation. Because a hearing is not
held and a friend of the court recommendation (rather than a referee recommendation)
is issued, the parties do not have to wait the 21-day objection period to
obtain a signed order from the judge.
Also, if either party objects they are given a date to appear before the
Honorable Adel A. Harb within two to three weeks for a hearing on the issues
they were unable to agree upon.
Feedback
from litigants and attorneys has been positive.
During the period May 12, 2016, through October 20, 2016, 34 cases were scheduled
and 20 appeared. Of those 20 cases, 16
reached full agreements and another 2 reached partial agreements; which is a 90
percent success rate.
Because of the success of this project, it will be
expanded to two additional dockets in February 2017.
If
you would like additional information, please contact John Frasik at john.frasik@3rdcc.org or 313-224-5261.
John Frasik is a certified mediator and mediator
trainer. He has been with the 3rd
Circuit Court for 23 years and with the court’s family assessment unit for 16
years.