Legal Question in Family Law in Utah

Is writing a letter to a Judge bad?

Me and my husband have been in and out of court for over 2 years with his ex wife. Prior to that she constantly harassed by phone, email, ect. for well over a yr. She is VERY vendictive and is constantly manupulating and lying to our kids(14 & 10)about everything including what is going on in court. We were recently awarded a GaL which she appealed. She refuses to settle on anything unless we agree to pay all of her attorneys fees & she has made it very clear that is all she wants. We do have that in writting and on voice mail. We do not feel that it is fair for us to pay her fees since she is the one causing the problems however we make ALOT more than her so it could be awarded. I fear that if we are forced to pay them it will send a msg to her that her behavior is acceptable and she will be even worse. I have considered writing the Judge and Commissioner a short letter expressing that we have been trying to resolve issues w/ her and no matter what we do she will not stop fighting us and the decisions made by them until we pay her fee's. We have an excellent attorney that has done very well by us but I wonder if personally expressing our concerns to them will help speed things up. Would this reflect poorly on us or could it help?


Asked on 5/23/06, 9:07 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Alvin Lundgren Alvin R. Lundgren, L.C.

Re: Is writing a letter to a Judge bad?

Your direct contact with the judge is against the law. It could cause a delay in the case, and possibly reassignment to a new judge. It would not reflect well on your case. You must work through your attorney and follow the rules. As long as you are prevailing in your case, it is very unlikely that the court would order you to pay her attorney fees. The judge always has the final say, but as a general rule the prevailing party is the only one entitled to reimbursement of attorney fees, and even then it is subject to judicial discretion.

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Answered on 5/24/06, 10:31 am


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