In the past few years, cases in probate court has been administered slower, court dates has been assigned later, and motion hearings has been pushed back more and more due to budget cuts.  The court is severely understaffed by court personnel and clerks that take in the cases, dockets them, and puts them in front of judges to hear.  Judges have had to work overtime in order to push out cases in a fair manner up until this point.  However, with 20% of the judges leaving, we will start to see a significant slow-down in court procedures.

Uncontested cases, before 2007, used to take about 5 months from start to finish.  Now, they take about 7 months or longer from start to finish due to the court not being able to give final hearing dates as quickly.  Contested cases, though it depends on the complexity of the matter, will now mostly like take a lot longer than 9-months.

The Limited Assistant Representation (LAR) program started with three probate & family courts in Massachusetts.  It was set up to help people who need the help of the courts but could not afford an attorney.  Traditionally, if you wanted an attorney to represent you in court, that attorney would have to represent you for the entire case.  However, attorneys do charge a lot of money and no every can afford the hourly rates (or even flat rates) that some attorneys charge.  In an effort to provide representation to more people needing access to the courts, Massachusetts allowed the unbundling of legal representation by attorneys.  In effect, attorneys can now represent a person at only one hearing or for a short period of time and without permission from the courts, withdraw from the case.  This limited representation can be done many times for a single client and can be a very cost effective way to help an attorney advocate for a client who cannot afford full legal representation.

Is LAR for everyone?  No.  It was set up to help lower income individuals have better access to the courts.  It is “limited” not only in the amount of time an attorney represents you, but it is also limited in the sense that an attorney cannot provide their best legal service to a client who they are not retained the entire case for.  The attorney cannot possibly know or be able to advise the best course of action if they are not helping to control and shape the course of litigation.

If you can afford an attorney, it is still much better to retain one in the traditional sense.  However, there is now better and fairer access to our court system for lower income individuals and as Martha Stewart says, it’s a good thing.

Note: Not all attorneys are trained in the LAR program.  The trial courts have set up a training session for attorneys who wish to take it.  I took it when the pilot program was started in Norfolk Probate Court.  You can find a list of LAR attorneys if you ask a clerk of the court.

• Rule 4(d)(4) has been amended to require only one publication in the event of an alternative service summons (as oppose to 3 publications in the past)
• Rule 56 has been amended to allow Summary Judgment in all cases except for those involving divorce, child custody and visitation, or criminal contempt
• Rule 410 on disclosures has been amended by splitting the 410 disclosures into 2 prongs: The first prong requires automatic disclosure of pay stubs, tax returns and health insurance information within 45 days of service on an action for child support.  The second prong requires a 410 notice to be served on opposing party before further disclosures are necessary.
• New Rule 27C specifies the format for Summary Judgment in the Probate and Family Court

The text of the amended and new rules can be found here (pdf file): http://is.gd/uUJL

First, I want to apologize if I gave the impression that I was against fathers or men for any reason.  I am not.  I want to apologize if I gave the impression that I don’t believe in father’s rights.  I do believe in it.

The post about the Moso’s way of life was simply an interesting case study that I wanted to share.  I find it very fascinating when I observe an entirely different way to life and culture that is counter to our own.  I don’t know if the Moso’s matriarchal society is better than ours or not.  I didn’t write the post to pass judgment.  I simply wanted to offer an alternative way to thinking about families and structure.  Mainly the point is that family and its structure is not biological – it’s cultural.

The other post about deadbeat dads was in response to Massachusetts recently catching one of its high profile cases of child support.  I don’t believe that posting about deadbeat dads means I’m against fathers.  It means I’m against people who shirk their obligations to their children – whether they be men or women.  It just so happens that statistically, dads are the ones that end up having to pay child support because the mom is the custodial parent.  Why that is, is an issue for another post.

First, on each blog post, readers will now have the option to bookmark the post with a number of different bookmarks, ranging from google to delicious to facebook.  Have fun and feel free to share.

Second, I’ve added a new “Free Resources” tab to the top of the blog – in addition to the free Legal Guides and Q&As that I write for Avvo.  The Free Resources tab contains a listing of agencies and their respective phone numbers for free legal service, info and advice in Massachusetts.  There’s no advice like free advice – is what somebody once said.

Infinity Law Group was started in 2006 by Uyen Le Kry, Esq.  I worked for her during law school and she taught me so much about the practice of law, the value of good lawyering, and the drive to succeed.  She was also my first inspiration and role model in starting my own law firm.  Up until that point, I’ve never considered the possibility that there was more to the practice of law than being in-house counsel, associate at a firm, or working for the government.  She really inspired me to think more of my abilities and outside the box.

Yesterday we finally closed the deal on the firm and I am now the new owner of Infinity Law Group LLC.  We have both moved on to bigger and better things, as life should be.  I wish her the best of luck and I hope that I will be able to maintain and expand the good name that I’m inheriting.

I’ve gotten lots of positive feedback from it already and lots of encouragement.  I want to thank you all for all your kind words and thoughts.

It’s great to know that solo practitioners are not as scarce as many thought (including myself at one point) and I’ve come to respect the practice of solos even more so than medium or big law firms.  There is a real sense of commitment and caring for clients with solos that you sometimes just do not get from big law firms.

You can read the article here.

I help people through bad family situations and to rebuild their lives.  My hope with this site is to provide useful information to people who might be considering divorce in the Boston area and who needs help navigating the process.

There will be new posts underneath this one on a regular basis so check back often or subscribe via a RSS reader via the Subscribe link at the upper left hand corner.  You will also find useful free resources located on the navigation menu right above, along with a short bio about me and a list of questions I’ve answered for people who might be in a similar situation as yourself.  Also above, you will see a tab to calculate child support (coming soon).

Feel free to check out My Other Blogs where I talk about wills and trusts, prenuptial agreements and bankruptcy issues.  Lastly, you might want to know about the basics of divorce by exploring the selected posts on Divorce Basics on the right hand side.

If you have questions or issues that this site cannot answer, feel free to contact me, either at the number listed on the left or using the Contact Me tab above.