trial conference is the most pivotal

step in the entire divorce litigation

process

it is scheduled

maybe about six or eight months in some

instances out from the point when the

case is filed in the summons and

complaint have been served

and it is up to the parties

to basically comply with the Mandate of

the Court which is to just uh to turn

over

um all uh prescribed Financial records

and documents and tax returns and uh

retirement accounts and health insurance

um information the goal and the divorce

process and it’s the philosophy of the

courts is to have all the cards face up

on the table

so everybody knows what they’re talking

about but a precondition to the

pre-trial conference is the party is

there a there’s a requirement for the

parties in their Council to meet about a

week before the pre-trial conference and

they’re supposed to narrow the contested

issues agree on what they can agree and

if there’s an issue or two or three or

four that can’t be agreed upon those are

the issues that get presented to the

court uh to the judge at the pre-trial

conference and then the judge will weigh

in on his or her

Judicial philosophy and dealing with

those issues so you know on each issue

one of the parties is going to get good

news and the other party is going to get

the bad news but as a result ninety

percent of the cases that we handle are

resolved at or around the pre-trial

conference

point in the litigation process

the ones that can’t be resolved go on to

be fully litigated to trial and it gets

very it becomes a very expensive slog

from that point forward