Found an issue on this page? Let us know and we will look into it as soon as possible.
Can a judge make you represent yourself in family court if you have a paid attorney who for some reason did not show
Anonymous5 views3 answers
In fam. Court in Sc. I was made by the judge to represent myself even after I told her I had a paid attorney who for some reason didn't show. I did not say that I wanted to represent myself she just did not give me a choice. It was forced. This same judge 2 years ago would not grant me a divorce on grounds of physical cruelty even though I stood in front of her covered in black and blue bruises where my husband had beat me. I don't know if she is racist but she was an older white lady in the south. I am black and my then husband is white. I feel like I was treated unfairly because of the color of my skin. Were my rights violated at any point.
It sounds as though your real problem should be with the attorney you hired and not necessarily with the court. The attorney should have entered a notice of appearance, appeared at the hearing or should have had the matter rescheduled. This is why you hired an attorney. It is not unusual for a court to make a scheduled hearing go forward.
This matter is in South Carolina and perhaps some South Carolina attorneys will respond to let you know if there is a disciplinary or ethics rule applicable to this situation and how you may seek redress of your grievance.
If you were appearing in court, there must have been a reason, probably some sort of hearing. No law requires the judge to postpone a scheduled hearing because one side's attorney didn't show. The hearing can proceed and the party (you) must represent yourself at that point. Your relationship with your attorney is not the court's problem. So, to answer you question, the judge has complete discretion to do what she did. Despite how may feel, nothing illegal, unethical, or wrong happened vis-a-vis the court and judge.
Now, you may have an ethical issue with your attorney, but you didn't ask about that.
