Types of Court Dates and How to Prepare for Each Type

 

Initial Case Management Conference (CMC) - Illinois Supreme Court Rule 218 controls the initial court date, but Rule 218 requires many things to be addressed of which, in practice, does not happen.  To be best prepared for the CMC, do the following:

 

1. Ensure your initial pleading or response has been filed.

 

2. Be prepared to advise the Court as to whether or not financial affidavits have been exchanged.  If not, let the Judge know when you plan on doing so.

 

3. If you haven’t already taken the parenting class, you may want to register for it, so the Judge knows that it’s “in process.”

 

4. If there’s a disagreement on custody, parenting time, etc., work with your opponent on selecting a mediator by agreement, and the Judge will likely be willing to appoint a mediator to move the custody portion of the case forward.

 

5. And finally, if you need temporary child support or temporary alimony (called maintenance), you may want to file that before the CMC and ask for a hearing date at the CMC.

 

Status Hearings / Status Conference  - Despite some courts using the word “hearing”, Status Conferences and Status Hearings are not hearings at all; therefore, they are usually more so called status “conferences” but sometimes in old court forms they are still identified as status hearings.  Usually no evidence is presented, and more often than not, neither side argues anything at a status conference.  Status conferences are used by Judges to make sure the case is progressing and wants to make sure neither side needs the Judge to weigh in on some issue or multiple issues.  Occasionally, but rarely, one side or the other will try to convince the Judge of something at a status conference, which is inappropriate, but that’s why status conferences are not completely harmless.  You should have your primary lawyer (not an associate) at all status conferences.  Status dates are scheduled every 30 to 40 days.  To be best prepared for a status conference:

 

1. Always keep a timeline of events that have occurred in the case, in case the Judge needs to know.

 

2. Be prepared to inform the Judge if financial affidavits have been exchanged and to what extent additional discovery is necessary and what’s been done to finish discovery of the case.

 

3. Be prepared to offer dates of your availability for the next status date.

 

4. Have easy to access notes and other materials, just in case the other side tries to turn the status conference into something more than what it should be.  It’s not inappropriate to ask the Judge to set a hearing on the issue because you didn’t prepare for a hearing where evidence and argument was going to be offered to the Court.

 

5. You can present motions at status conferences, not to argue, but rather to make the Judge aware of the motion, where the other side will be given time to file a written response to your motion, and set a hearing date.

 

Hearing Dates - Hearing dates are more serious.  Evidence in the form of documents and testimony are heard at hearings.  Because Illinois does not have relaxed rules of evidence for family law cases, you should definitely have a lawyer for a hearing date if you don’t have one already.  Hearings are the dates where Judges decide motions or other types of requests on contested issues in the middle of a divorce or custody case.  To best prepare for hearings:

 

1. Make certain the Judge has courtesy copies of the motions to be decided and all proposed exhibits at least three (3) days in advance.

 

2. Have your exhibits pre-marked and ready to go (multiple copies);

 

3. If you are trying to represent yourself, DON’T DO IT, but if you can’t help yourself from wanting a severe beat down in the courtroom, prepare lists on how to lay proper foundation for all types of documents that you are intending on introducing at the hearing. This means offering the proper information to the Court to accept a document into evidence, otherwise, your document will not be considered.

 

4. Be prepared to make an opening statement and a closing argument with a reasonable and pragmatic solution to the issue that’s being decided. You may want to include a proposed order to the Judge in advance of the hearing.

 

Case Management Conference - The actual case management conference (CMC) pursuant to Rule 218, with all of its requirements doesn’t come until much later in the case, usually when the case is nearly 18 months old.  In many counties, there’s no actual CMC date.  It’s just a status date that tends to act as a CMC date because deadlines are set and a trial date is set.  There’s no real way to prepare for these types of impromptu CMC dates, other than to:

 

1.  Have your calendar at the ready to know when you are and are not available to satisfy deadlines and court dates, especially a trial date. 

 

2.  Before agreeing to set deadlines and a trial date, suggest to the Court that a pretrial be scheduled. (see below for a pretrial).

 

Pretrial -  Pretrials are somewhat of a misnomer because people think it’s very much like a trial, involves evidence and document, and are expensive.  The opposite is true.   In fact, most pretrials are done in the Judge’s chambers and only the lawyers are invited.  So you and your spouse (if you even bother to go to court) will sit out in the courtroom or in the hallway while the lawyers go and talk to the Judge.  The Pretrial is designed so that rules of evidence do not apply and both lawyers can talk freely about the case, what evidence they would present at a trial, and how they believe the case should conclude.  The Judge then makes suggestions and recommendations on how he or she would adjudicate issues based on the arguments and evidence that both lawyers disclose.  The pretrial is essentially looking into a crystal ball and seeing what your trial will look like and what the Judge will do. Most cases settle after the pretrial once knowing how the Judge will treat all the issues in the case.  To best prepare for your pretrial:

 

1. Make certain that discovery and disclosures are complete, otherwise the Judge will not have the full picture of things; if the Judge makes recommendations without knowing everything, it could hurt your case; especially if the Judge takes notes of his or her recommendations.

 

2. Make certain your pretrial memo explains everything involved in the case.  It’s your time to shine.  While some Judges don’t have time to review every detail before the pretrial, you don’t want to the spouse without a pretrial memo.

 

3. While your attendance at the pretrial could be helpful, it’s not necessary.  Just make sure you are available by phone and text in case the Judge has a question and your lawyer needs your answer right away.

 

4. Write down the Judge’s recommendations.  They are easily forgotten within a day or two, and they will be your guiding light on how to get your case to settlement.  

 

Trial Status - A trial status is different that the month status dates mentioned above.  There is usually only one trial status, and it takes place usually a few days before the trial.  Often exhibits for trial are exchanged at the trial status.  If your case has a trial status, that’s usually a good sign that either you or your spouse are unreasonable and bullheaded - unwilling to settle on terms that the Judge already provided at the pretrial. Sometimes the spouses are innocent, and one or both of the lawyers are allowing their personalities to hijack the case. To best prepare for a trial status:

 

1. Probably your last chance to have a lawyer.  If you don’t have a lawyer by now, just plan on a horrible outcome of your divorce and custody case.

 

2. Have your trial exhibits ready and pre-marked.  You’ll need copies for the Judge, the opponent, and for the witnesses at trial.

 

3. Make certain all deadlines are satisfied (witness and other disclosures).

4. If you need a new trial date, this would be one of your last opportunities to bring a motion to continue the trial.

 

Prove-Up - A prove-up is the court date where you finalize your divorce or custody case by agreement (no trial is necessary).  The prove-up can come at any time, provided that you and your spouse (or the other parent) have come to full agreement on everything.  It’s called a prove-up because you and your soon to be ex are going to offer evidence to the court of the terms of the agreement, which is called “offering proofs” to the Judge.  So, you are offering this testimony up to the Bench (where the Judge sits), hence why it’s called a Prove-Up.  Prove-ups are quick and easy, usually lasting only 15 minutes or less.  Judges in DuPage County allow prove-ups on paper, so you don’t have to go to court.  (some Cook County Judges allow prove-ups on paper, also called prove-ups on affidavit).  Other Counties will allow prove-ups on Zoom (Cook, some Will County Judges, and some Kendall and Kane Judges).  Other Judges require Prove-ups only in person (Some Will County, some Kendall and Kane Judges).  To best prepare for a prove-up:

 

1. Documents to finalize the case must be completed, for example, your Judgment for Dissolution of Marriage, your Certificate of Dissolution, and a number of other documents. 

2. Have a copy of the Petition for Dissolution of Marriage, you’ll need to offer proofs on the substantive allegations of the Petition.

3. Because prove-ups are quick and summary in nature, talk to your lawyer a few minutes before to know how a prove-up is conducted and what’s expected of you in terms of your testimony. 

 

Trial -  This is the final date of any divorce or custody case.  Trials can take one day, or they can take several months depending on the complexity of the case and the issues in dispute.  Before the trial starts, the Judge may want to meet with the attorneys privately to decide if there’s partial agreements to shorten the trial as much as possible.  Testimony and other types of evidence are very time consuming, often with only having enough time for one witness per day.  To best prepare for trial:

 

1. Have some strategy as to the order of witnesses.  Trials do involve some planning how to best present evidence to better sell your version of events to the Judge.

 

2. Have motions ready to present at the beginning of the trial, either to continue the trial, bar the other side’s witnesses or documents, to address issues with witnesses, or other procedural matters before the trial starts.

 

3. Talk to your lawyer prior to your testifying.  Different lawyers tend to prepare their clients differently.  The best approach seems to be when a lawyer carefully explains how not to rehabilitate your own testimony, and the technique works well.

 

If you have additional questions about how to best address your next court date, please call Paul Nordini for your free, no pressure, initial consultation at (630) 416-6600.