Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in California

The judgment order served on me by the prevailing party a week after the hearing was not signed. The case file was missing for about two weeks afterward. I finally saw the signed copy in the record two months after the hearing. It has three layers of whiteout over the date. A series of earlier dates can be seen through the whiteout. The judgment cost me hundreds of thousands of dollars by ignoring my opponent's correction, after the first day in court, of an "error".

Does the opposing party's failure to serve a signed copy on me extend my appeal deadline? Do I submit a copy of the unsigned order with my notice of appeal? Am I responsible for buying a signed copy from Records?

The hearing was continued. I needed remarks in the early transcript for a post-hearing motion. I received the transcript four months after I requested it, an hour and a half before the office closed on my deadline. The transcript showed me a pattern of judge bias against litigants who do not have the money to hire attorneys. It reveals that the judge cannot function without an attorney at his elbow, or opposing attorneys offering him a choice of scripts. He did not seem to remember any fact in either side's pleadings, or recognize code sections. He kept turning to the opposing attorney for direction. I do not want to go before him again. I suspect the problem is not so much prejudice as declining competence. If this is true, my saying so in a pleading would be cruel as well as dangerous. What recourse have I?

Disclosing my real zip code would identify the judge.

Do any of your attorneys accept payment by check?

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