Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

Re: I sold property now I am going to court for fraud ??

I doubt any litigant's friend in the system is causing a delay. If anything, this sounds typical. Most cases are not resolved (via trial) until 12-15 months after filed.

The real question is what has happened with the case in the 10 months since it was filed? What discovery has been done? Have you set up the case for summary judgment? Has your attorney been diligent in moving the case along?

All good questions.

Good luck.

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Re: I sold property now I am going to court for fraud ??

I hope you have an attorney representing you. Since probably a good deal of money is involved, it's not something you want to handle yourself. Without reviewing the documents, I can't say what's involved. However, there's usually more to the story than one can fit in a few short paragraphs. Good luck. Please let me know if I might be of assistance.

Re: I sold property now I am going to court for fraud ??

I didn't see anything indicating whether you're represented by counsel or not. If you are, your attorney should be able to explain these schedule and procedural matters to you. If not, the haphazard schedule may be a direct result of your ineptly handling the procedural aspects of your case. Shepherding a case through the crowded court system, meeting all deadlines, avoiding being outmaneuvered by a skilled opponent, and not missing an opportunity to file motions, serve discovery and the like takes a lot of experience.

When the issues include fraud and valuable real estate, you shouldn't be self-represented even if you yourself are a licensed attorney!

The speed with which cases move from filing to trial is controlled jointly by judges and the parties, through their attorneys. It is extremely unlikely that anyone other than the parties, the assigned attorney, and perhaps the presiding judge of the local court, will have any effect on how long it takes to get to trial. The attorneys can speed things up a little, or slow them down considerably, by requesting remote deadlines, filing demurrers, and making various motions. There is a practical limit, because the schedule is ultimately up to the judge's discretion and the "system" puts pressure on the judges to reduce their case backlog and the mean time between filing and conclusion (by settlement, judgment or dismissal).

It's somewhat unusual, I think, at least in counties where I've had cases, for six months to elapse between the mandatory settlement conference and the trial. Perhaps one of the parties has demanded a jury trial and estimated it to require two weeks. This would be a scheduling problem in most courts these days, especially for a civil matter not entitled to preference.

So, it isn't your fathger's friends in the system, but it could be your father's attorney. On the other hand, why is it to his advantage to delay? Seems to me, delay favors your side more than his.

Also, is the buyer a party to the suit? If not, why not? Is there a quiet title cause of action, or only fraud? Many more details are needed to assess the case.