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Showing posts from August, 2024

The Most Common Complaints about Family Court and How Collaborative Law Solves Them

It's common knowledge that family court is a place you want to avoid if you can.  While the court is a resource that can help people in need of a resolution to various family conflicts, no one hopes to end up there, and there is readily available data on what the most common complaints are for those that do.   The Massachusetts Commission on Judicial Conduct publishes an annual report on the complaints they receive.  The 2022 Annual Report (released in 2023) gives us some insight into what causes people to be dissatisfied with the court system.  Of the complaints that were docketed, 1/3 of them were against the Family and Probate Court.  The most common complaints were that the judge showed an inappropriate demeanor (included in 2/3 of the complaints) or that the litigant was denied a full opportunity to be heard (in almost half of the complaints).  In addition, almost 30% of complaints alleged bias (including gender, race, or bias against self-represented litigants). This may see