Legal Question in Family Law in California
My ex-husband has an interesting attorney. Last August, she and I were supposed to work together and come to an agreement on my ex-husband's arrears. She did not answer my email (I was responding to her questions and wanted clarification), and when I left a phone message regarding the email her secretary left me a message saying not to email the attorney unless it was an emergency. Since then, I have emailed twice, once in January and a second time this month. Her client is in contempt of court and again in arrears. Her response to me is to tell me that I must correspond with her via US Mail only. Have you heard of this? Am I obligated to only correspond via US Mail?
2 Answers from Attorneys
You are not required to use e mail to communicate about cases.
I agree with Ms. Kock, mostly. An attorney is not required to use email to communicate about cases and can refuse to acknowledge or respond to emails, in state court (many U.S. District Courts now require use of emails along with electronic filing of court papers and documents). However, an attorney is at risk and places their client at risk if they receive information via an email address that they put on court papers, publish in directories or advertising, or otherwise place in the public domain as a way to reach them, and then they try to deny they received the information. That is not true, however, for formal legal notices and anything else that must be "served." Those things must still be hand delivered or mailed.
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