Part 1
: Can I have a family law hearing in a pandemic?
The answer may surprise you… in Austin, courts are gearing up to operate in a virtual world.
Many of my clients are asking if they can still have a hearing in the middle of the Coronavirus, COVID-19, Coronapocalypse, whatever-you-want-to-call-it pandemic. If you’re in Texas, that really depends on what county your case is in. With 254 counties, it will depend on whether or not your county court system has adopted a COVID-19 order. Even if your county or city is not sheltering in place, the courts may have issued their own separate order and procedures.
Keep in mind, you can still get divorced. You can still file for custody. You can still start a lawsuit for a family law matter. Once you do, there will be different procedures in place for how the judge hears your case.
So it depends on your county and their procedures…
If you live in Travis County (Austin, TX, area, which for some reason includes parts of Pflugerville), on March 17, the Travis County judges issued an Emergency Standing Order Regarding Possession and Access of Children Pursuant to Existing Court Orders. This standing order states that everyone should just stick to their possession schedules, as if school was in place,
“Parties should continue to follow the originally published school calendar as if school were resuming and dismissing on that schedule.”
Again, if you have questions about any of this, feel free to visit the Travis County website and click here https://www.traviscountytx.gov/news/2020/1945-novel-coronavirus-covid-19-information
Ok, we get it. We know we’re supposed to follow the current custody orders, but can I get a hearing in Travis County, TX?
On March 16th, the Emergency Order for all Travis County and Civil Family Courts was issued by the Travis County judges. It stated,
“All non-emergency hearings currently scheduled for the next four weeks are hereby postponedpopato and will need to be rescheduled to a later date through Court Administration.”
It also went on to say,
“…Lawyers and litigants shall exercise their best judgment as to whether their hearing is an emergency and should communicate with Court Administration (512-854-CIVIL or traviscivilcourts@traviscountytx.gov) and wait for a response before attempting to visit the Heman Marion Sweatt Travis County Courthouse in person for any matter.”
In other words on March 16th, all family law hearings in Travis County were postponed, unless they were emergencies. (When I say all, I don’t mean every. single. one. Of course there are exceptions, but I’m trying to summarize here. This is a blog, not the Wall Street Journal. And this is not legal advice. I know that cases on the CPS docket have their own rules, if you want to read it yourself, just click here).
For agreed cases, litigants were encouraged to email their agreed orders directly to the court in which their case was assigned. (Which was kind of confusing, since Travis County has the life-is-like-a-box-of-chocolates-docket, you never know what judge you’re gonna get). Regardless of which judge heard your case, if your case header said, “the 126th Judicial District Court of Travis County,” you would email 126submissions@traviscountytx.gov, and so on. At the very end, they left an ominous line,
“The Travis County Civil and Family courts will resume normal operations and in-person hearings on April 13, 2020, unless otherwise notified.”
Hmm… April 13th you say? That seemed ambitious.
Indeed, on March 27th, the Travis County courts issued the First Amended Emergency Order Regarding COVID-19, which replaced the prior order. This order suspended in-person hearings until May 11, 2020 and jury trials until June 15, 2020. The only exception was emergency hearings – which would be determined by a judge.
Basically, if your family case was already scheduled for March 27 – May 11, 2020, it would have to be reset for a date after May 11th, unless it was an emergency or super-duper important – as determined by a judge. (This is what I have deduced from this order. It’s a little tricky and I’ve read it several times and talked it over with my famlawfam. Most of us have come to the same interpretation. I could have interpreted this wrong - again, this a blog, not the New York Times).
Per this order, to reschedule your famlaw hearing you could…
get online through the Travis County Court Administration’s portal, https://www.traviscourtsapplications.org/portal or call 512-854-CIVIL to simply reschedule your hearing for another glorious day when we can all see each other face-to-face again, or as the kids say, IRL, or
if you still needed a hearing in a family law case, you could request a telephone or webcam hearing through the Court Admin by calling 512-854-CIVIL or emailing Travis.Civilcourts@traviscountytx.gov.
The order covers agreed matters too. If you have a simple issue, like an agreed order that you need a judge to sign, then you could send it in via email, aka “written submission.” Agreed matters are things that don’t require testimony, or that can be proven with paperwork; ie; proving up an agreed divorce. For these cases, it is still up to the judge whether they will accept it via email. They could say the issue requires a telephone or webcam hearing.
So in Travis County, if you have a family law case and you want a hearing before May 11th, you can only have one if it’s an emergency, or something super-duper, like-really-very-important – as determined by a judge. Essentially, they don’t want you to schedule a hearing right now, unless something is very important (for example, someone’s withholding the child, someone needs money to live on, etc.) or an emergency.
If you think your case might fall into one of those categories, the order goes on to say that attorneys and parties may request video and telephone hearings during this time, but the judge will decide which type you get, and the exact procedures. Word on the street is that Zoom will be the preferred method for webcam hearings in Travis County. (Although, again, this is a blog and I am not Ronan Farrow).
Regardless, for immediate emergency matters, like ex parte (without prior notice) requests, such as temporary restraining orders, and kick-out orders, each week, like some sort of Hunger Games, a duty judge will be on standby to hear emergency matters only, and decide whether those cases are emergencies, and if they should be immediately granted, or if they should be heard in-person. (I seriously, seriously, doubt they’re going to see anyone in-person. I am assuming we’re Zooming from here on out, but you never know).
Ok, but I live in Pflugerville (the Wilco part), or Round Rock, or Georgetown, or Taylor, can I get in front of a judge in Williamson County, TX during the Coronavirus pandemic?
Welp, you had to go and make things complicated didn’t you? Wouldn’t you know it, Williamson County has their own entirely different procedures. If you want to read it straight from the horse’s keyboard, click here https://www.wilco.org/ccl4. Remember, this is a blog - and you know the drill - not legal advice.
To summarize their order, on March 30th, the Williamson County family court judges came up with a plan to have “virtual courtrooms,” in other words, webcam hearings. (“Virtual courtrooms?” What is this West World? Just call it a webcam hearing). They will conduct these hearings by using Microsoft Teams, “a cloud-based collaboration software that is part of the Office 365 Suite of applications,” effective immediately.
So how do I schedule a “virtual courtroom” hearing? There are several steps. I’ll try to be concise. I will fail.
1. Step 1 – Chambers Conference: Email the court administrator, of the judge your case is assigned to, and request a “chambers conference” with the judge. They’ll send you a link and on that day you’ll click on it and appear by webcam via Microsoft Teams to the judge and the other attorney only. It’s not a hearing. This “meeting in the judge’s chambers,” would normally be when the attorneys go into the judge’s office in the back and talk about the case without the parties. (It happens on like every episode of Law and Order).
2. Step 2 – Judge Decides Whether you Pass Go and Collect $200: After the end of the conference in chambers, the judge can decide if you are ordered to 1) mediate, 2) have a webcam hearing, aka “virtual courtroom,” or 3) “further action,” something else, maybe the judge needs a brief on the issue, or more information, maybe the judge needs a latte, or a nap, before they can decide.
3. Step 3 – If a Virtual Courtroom Hearing is Granted, You better hold on to your butts: I say this to remind everyone that we are all just figuring this out as we go – the Court included. Trust me, I’ve spoken to them. Once the judge okays you for take-off, you schedule the hearing and then the Court Admin will send you a calendar link that you click on to join the “virtual courtroom,” on the scheduled date of hearing. The parties and witnesses should all use Microsoft Teams and everyone will appear by webcam. Also interestingly, all exhibits will be due to the court reporter – and to the opposing attorney - 24 hours in advance of the hearing. Unfortunately, this will destroy half the fun in temporary orders hearings, when you surprise the other side with a never-before-seen exhibit of their sext message to the neighbor. These webcam hearings will have court-reporters, but they can also be recorded electronically. Also if for some reason, someone’s webcam isn’t working, then the judge could postpone the hearing. (I feel like this could be a way for people to weasel out of hearings. I can just hear it now… “Sorry judge, my Internet connection is bad," as they head to the couch).
Oh and all family law jury trials scheduled through June 30th are postponed.
What’s also interesting, is unlike CPS court in Travis County and district court in Bexar County, Williamson County has chosen to use Microsoft Teams and not Zoom. It will be interesting to see what webcam software the major counties adopt. Will we be a Zoom world? A Microsoft Teams world? A West World?
Just do me a favor, and don’t wear your pajamas.
-M
