Legal Question in Family Law in California

Yes, to the extent you can document that your attempts to settle the case were met with a stone wall by the mother's attorney - you can ask the court for sanctions at trial. No, to the extent that you are asking questions. The mother's attorney is being paid to answer her questions - not yours. Also, opposing attorneys may limit contact with you due to consideration of the mother's attorney fee bill. This may be consideration for your bill also, if the attorney is asking the court for you to contribute towards the mother's attorney fees. On the other hand, not communicating with you may be a strategy for leaving you in the dark until you go to the next hearing, default or trial.

Mr. Walker's answer is correct but a little convoluted. The answer is that other than settlement discussions and answers to formal discovery, her attorney has no obligation to speak to you at all about anything. I should also warn you that I communicate as little as possible with self-represented parties when I represent clients. It is almost never beneficial to my client, yet I have to bill them for it. It also is usually to my client's advantage to keep self-represented opposing parties as much in the dark as possible. Lastly, in almost 25 years of practice, I have never, ever seen a self-represented person who did not get stomped in court when there was an attorney on the other side, whether me or any other.