Happy New Year to all of you desperateexes.com readers and fans! My New Year started out on a terrible tone as I had a terrible personal problem that I hope time will take care of…BUT, I did want to try and bring some new insight into the world of Family Law Judges, aka DIVORCE!
I spent January 2, 2009 in Department 6, Commissioner Steff Padilla’s courtroom, from about 0830 hrs. to almost 1600 hrs. Commissioner Padilla has to be one of the most compassionate bench officers I have seen in a very long time. She has a style that comes across as someone you could just walk up to and share a coffee and a sandwich. This judge knows her stuff and has all of the quick comebacks that come from meting out justice, and making decisions for people in the throes of divorce who cannot make them for themselves. One of her many quotes this morning was “this is how the cow ate the cabbage“…a comment also of just being a “southern girl.” Cows, cabbage, southern girl, welcome to department 6!
Another comment that she made to a couple before her was “if you don’t respect your parents, who do you respect?“…this was especially difficult for me to hear having just gone through one of the worst holiday seasons in my life. Commissioner Padilla’s attention to what one side or the other wanted to tell her was a style that you seldom see in any courtroom in this country and she made it a point for those in front of her to speak and express themselves, BRAVO! Another class act in a show where class seldom exists, Commissioner Padilla also reflects on her own parenting experiences and of her time as a criminal defense lawyer…she brings with her a great deal of baggage and all of it good!
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Sending prayers your way PI Naz, I hope everything works out for you!
I can’t comment on your situation, but I can tell you that my first experience with Steff Padilla was awesome! We were set to have our case heard by Michael Convey – I recognized the name, but didn’t make the connection – his son went to Colfax Elementary with my daughter for 6 years, and I worked closely with his wife volunteering for the school’s functions! She even wrote a declaration on my behalf in my case, attesting to my involvement in the school.
Needless to say, Judge Convey had to recuse himself, and my ex’s attorney immediately indicated he wanted to stip to Padilla. Now, that made me nervous, only because I learned (the hard way) how sneaky this attorney can be (but that’s a whole other story).
With a now overbooked calendar, Padilla was super efficient – she ordered most of the cases there to do what they should have done all along: go in the halls, figure your sh*t out, and stop making the courts make your decisions for you. Our case was no different. I actually think my ex’s attorney had intentionally pushed this all the way to trial just so he could bank more billable hours, because when we went out into the hallway, my ex agreed to almost everything! What a waste of time and money to get all the way here and she just says “OK” when all the time before, she’d send back lengthy emails, written by her boyfriend no less, refusing to agree to anything. Fighting for the sake of fighting is idiotic.
Currently I still have 2 cases before Padilla: one in Sept that has to do with my ex trying to move my son to a school where she’s not even a resident, and so I still have no idea how she is even eligible to make such a request, and the other in October is the rest of her “bat sh*t crazy” request full of things that seek to limit communication with the non-custodial parent, and diminish the voices of our children. I’ve been tempted at times to ask for full custody (but I know that unless my ex shows up in court with a needle in one arm, collecting money from a john with her other, there’s no way a court will take her custody away. too bad).
My ex is not the captain of her own ship; and is totally lost. Between her attorney and her new rich boyfriend whose main goal is to get our custody to match his own daughter’s custody, you can see just by looking at her, or even asking her opinion about anything, that she has no idea what direction she’s sailing. It’s really sad.
I gotta tell you, based on what I saw in the courtroom that day, and also what Padilla said to us about our own kids, it was clear to me that her primary concern was the kids. I can’t tell what the outcome will be for my 2 remaining cases, but if I’m right in what is best for my kids, I shouldn’t have anything to worry about.
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