(0:00 – 0:22)
Hello everyone, I’m Dr. Michael Mantell with another edition of Family Law Matters with Bonnie Rabinovitch-Mantel, Certified Family Law Specialist and owner and managing partner of the Primus Family Law Group. Hi Bonnie. Hi Michael, how are you doing today? Doing great, thanks for asking.

(0:23 – 0:51)
Bonnie, the holidays are right in front of us and I know this is a tough time for families who are separated, who are divorced. We’ve been talking about it for several Family Law Matter editions already. I’m curious with COVID continuing till who knows how long, the courts are sort of back, but they’re backed up.

(0:51 – 1:22)
What’s the experience that people who are in touch with you filing Family Law Matters, what are they seeing in the courts these days? Well, you know, I will give the courts their props, okay? They had very little time to come up with a completely different system called an e-filing system. Now, Los Angeles and other counties, they’ve been doing it, but San Diego has been a little bit behind. And now I will say after doing it for this long, they have it pretty well down.

(1:22 – 1:42)
You can get your stuff e-filed in a relatively quick turnaround, meaning you submit your stuff now online, you know, scan it and send it. And you’re no longer waiting three, four months to get things back. You’re actually getting documents back in a week’s turnaround, two week stops.

(1:43 – 1:59)
That makes our job a lot easier in scheduling hearings, getting deadlines down. So as for, you know, managing our client’s stress level when things are delayed and getting set, there’s more stress that goes around for everybody. So that’s really good.

(2:00 – 2:18)
As for in-court appearances, no, no, we’re still doing them Zoom. And there’s still some of the technological challenges because it’s not the court per se, it’s people. We get a lot of people, you know, making their own appearances from their car, from their living room with the cat walking.

(2:19 – 2:42)
You know, I’m sure at some point you’ll hear my dog walk by me. You know, so there’s, you’ve got that going on, which makes it a little bit more challenging or we’ve already created skits about, you know, please press alt six when we’re trying to unmute you, please press alt, you know, and the judge has to be patient. So it takes a little bit, it takes a lot longer to have your hearings heard.

(2:43 – 3:09)
And so what the courts are doing to accommodate that is they’re setting longer time estimates. So if you’re going in and you know, you’re gonna need a day for your trial, you might as well estimate too. Does it make it more expensive for parties? Yes, which is why there’s a lot of us who are willing to work and help people settle their cases, especially at Primus, because we understand that while hearings are being, while the filings are getting done quicker, hearings are being set out very far.

(3:10 – 3:41)
And it’s, right now we’re getting hearings in late 2021. Late 2021, wow. So is there a seasonal set of issues that you’re hearing, especially this month? Sure, people who are, you know, not unwilling to share, well, there are those, there’s always those dramatic extremes who are like, I don’t care what the court order says, you’re not gonna get to see little Johnny or little, you know, Wendy.

(3:42 – 4:19)
And that requires us to run in ex parte, which means having to bog down the courts a little bit with hearing how these parents are unwilling to share. And then there’s, you know, the other issues of wanting to take your kids on vacation and how that’s gonna be arranged and did they give notice? And the overall, and you know, my mom and dad are now coming to town and that’s a surprise and I’d like to have them more. And while I already made plans and splitting and the, you know, gifts and there’s who’s got more and who’s able to do more, there’s a lot of that going around.

(4:19 – 4:36)
Bonnie, the Primus Family Law Group team takes time for itself to celebrate the holidays, to be with family and all that. And you do that the last week of December? We do that Christmas week. So this week, it depends when it falls.

(4:36 – 5:00)
This week, because Christmas falls Thursday night, Friday, we’re gonna be closed Thursday, probably about noon or noon 30 until the second when we all have to come back. So what do people do as they’re listening to this and realize, oh my goodness, I better get on the phone. I better talk to them because I want to do something that week with the kids.

(5:00 – 5:23)
I was gonna take them away. Or how is your closing going to impact people? And what advice do you have for those who have been dragging their feet a bit? Well, our closing shouldn’t impact people. If you know that you want to take vacation and you haven’t been able to work it out with your spouse and it’s already this close to the holidays, reach out and, you know, we can see what we can do to help you, of course.

(5:24 – 5:45)
But that week, you should be able to be a grownup and figure it out on your own for, forgive me, if we’re talking about five business days, seven business days. I mean, you guys can do it. I have faith in all of you co-parents, good, bad, or indifferent, to be able to figure it out for seven days.

(5:48 – 5:54)
And especially if there are children involved, as you always say, for the sake of the children. Absolutely. For the sake of the children.

(5:54 – 6:06)
With all that matters. And do, because we have, this is gonna sound like a strange question, but this is a time when family is visiting. Even during COVID.

(6:06 – 6:43)
People are still getting their cars, they’re flying, people are still doing what they have to do with masks and all that. Do you get calls from parents of spouses that you are representing? Hi, this is Mrs. Jones and you’re representing my daughter and I wanna know, do you ever get calls like that? We may get the occasional call, but attorney-client confidentiality is a very important thing. And even if mom or dad is footing the bill, they don’t run the case, they don’t get to know about the case.

(6:43 – 7:01)
Our client’s case is our client’s case. And so, no, we’re very polite. You know, we can certainly wish them well and tell them we’re taking care of their child’s case to the best of our abilities, as I’m sure their child is telling them as well.

(7:02 – 7:20)
And that’s where we leave that. And so, this time of the year, even with family visiting and holiday cheer and all that, there’s still rules and boundaries and ethics and guidelines and everything else that you follow regardless. Regardless, yes, absolutely, Michael.

(7:21 – 7:45)
Right, right. All righty, well, listen, this has been a wonderfully helpful and informative edition of Family Law Matters, as always. And if people do wanna get in touch with you in advance of that time off, that most people are taking, how do they reach you? You can reach us at 619-574-8000, and Melanie will definitely put you on my calendar for a 30-minute free consult.

(7:46 – 7:54)
And you can also reach us at primusfamilylaw.com. There’s a neat online form you can fill out, and we will contact you from that.