Legal Question in Family Law in Illinois

Re: Opposing Attorney Holding original documents

Getting your originals back cannot be assured. If the �ex� possesses them now, they could be destroyed already. You must continue your pursuit for discovery and return of your documents. If you are denied discovery or denied prompt return of your documents, seek sanctions from the court.

If the documents are destroyed and they were last in the possession of your �ex� or his lawyers, the law presumes the content of the documents was unfavorable to your �ex.�

If your documents have not yet been destroyed (or if you don�t know whether they have been destroyed), and you fear they will be, you could seek relief in the form of replevin (whereby the sheriff seizes the documents from the current possessor). In seeking replevin, if you reasonably fear that your �ex� will destroy the documents upon learning that you are moving to replevy them, you may be able to obtain replevin without notice.

With regard to not being legally notified of a substitution of attorneys, you should check the court file to determine whether the new attorney has filed his appearance or substitution of counsel. If the new lawyer has only filed his appearance, and the prior lawyer has not been granted leave to withdraw as counsel, then that means that both lawyers are still in the case. If the new lawyer has filed a substitution of counsel, that implies that the prior lawyer is out of the case.

By the way, have YOU filed YOUR appearance? An �appearance� states on its face where service of papers upon you can be had. In the absence of such a document, you might not be receiving service of the documents (pleadings, motions, notices, etc.) filed by the other side in the case. That might explain why you have not received any notice of new counsel.

Re: Opposing Attorney Holding original documents

Excellent answer and I cannot add more except - get into court immediately and make the judge aware that you have documents that have not been returned -