Legal Question in Family Law in Texas
My daughter had to get an attorney for a custody case for her child. We had proof that the father seeking joint custody sold and used drugs. He also admitted in court to using drugs daily for years but her attorney did not ask him any questions based on his response nor did he show any documentation that was provided to him to the courts to prove that he needed treatment as well as supervised visitation. He not only arrived to court late but he consulted with my daughter each time he wanted to ask a question to the child's father. After a few questions that had nothing to do with a productive cross examination, the judge stopped any further questioning from her attorney. Her attorney was completely unprepared and after $5,000, the father was given overnight visitation with his 9 month old child. My daughter obtained a new lawyer for the final orders. Because the temporary orders gave the father overnight visitation, the father was able to get extended visitation.
My questions are:
Should we report the first attorney for poor representation?
Can we get a private investigator to help gather evidence of the father's illegal activity and request modification of the final orders?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Talk to your attorney about your questions.
1. The first attorney appeared in court. He asked questions.
Just because you don't like the ruling of the judge does not mean that the attorney did a bad job.
You admit that the judge stopped further questioning from the attorney.
I was not there so I cannot say what really happened.
2. I don't know what you want a p i to do. So talk to your attorney. PIs cost a lot of money and they can only testify to what they observe. Anyone can testify to what they observe. I've seen clients waste a lot of money on PIs and then run out of money to pay their lawyer. So listen to your lawyer.
If the father is arrested for his illegal activity that would be relevant.
It is interesting that the police don't arrest him for his criminal behavior. Judges take arrests seriously. They don't take allegations of criminal behavior very seriously -- people "allege" drug usage all the time.
FYI - If he admitted to drug usage more than 2 years ago and says that he stopped NOW - it is probably not relevant now.
I've seen judges give ex-cons custody of their children because they served their time, got a job and kept their noses clean for more than 2 years. People are allow to learn from their mistakes.
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