A New York divorce trial lawyer can help you even if you intend to pursue mediation or other forms of alternate dispute resolution before turning to litigation. A New York divorce trial attorney is the person you will need to trust with some of the most personal information about you during a very emotionally challenging time. The selection of the appropriate attorney needs to occur as soon as possible.
Your lawyer may try everything possible to avoid going to trial in the first place, but in some cases, it is not possible to resolve outside of court. Litigation is unfortunately one of the most challenging ways to resolve a divorce case. In the best-case scenario, you and your spouse will be able to work together to arrive at a solution for all of these critical issues without going to court.
After you are already facing a trial, however, you've probably invested a significant amount of time, such as months or years, putting together your case. You have probably had to work through issues such as discovery, motions, the preparation of financial disclosures, and spending money on attorney's fees and filing fees. The total costs involved and time spent can vary from one state and from one case to another. The fact that a lot of money has already been spent may actually encourage your former spouse to just keep going.
Many cases that end up heading to trial can settle even on the day of your first hearing for the litigation. If this happens, this means that you and your attorneys will likely meet in separate conference rooms to identify a possible solution. This usually occurs when one person or both parties are simply tired of fighting the issues, or realize the extensive uncertainty and high costs associated with litigation. This is not the last opportunity for both spouses to try to settle all or at least part of the case. Sometimes being in the court house can trigger feelings of wanting to resolve things as soon as possible.
Applicable state laws and local rules must be followed if your case does go to divorce trial. Divorce trial will vary from one locality to another, so your selection of appropriate jurisdiction and filing location is important. The petitioner will go first in a divorce trial by putting on evidence and calling forward any witnesses. When the witnesses have completed testifying for the plaintiff, the defendant can also cross examine those witnesses on matters that were discussed in the initial testimony. Furthermore, the plaintiff can request that the judge accept documents as exhibits into evidence.
The defendant will likely have already seen these matters during the discovery process. After this process is complete, the respondent then presents his or her side of the case. The defense will present their own exhibits and call their own witnesses. At the conclusion of the case, the defense will rest and then the judge will grant rebuttal time for the plaintiff.
Since the plaintiff carries the burden of proof during any civil trials, he or she always gets the last word. Both the defendant and the plaintiff may make final oral arguments to the judge. Sometimes the judge will send a written order out after the fact and administer a verbal order at that time. The written order will include all of the final settlements associated with a divorce and disposes off all of the issues that were initially presented at trial. The attorneys involved may then sit down with their individual clients and figure out whether it makes sense to appeal any or all of the issues.