Most people imagine that their divorce trial will look like what they see on television. As a San Antonio divorce attorney, I can tell you that it is not always like what we see on a television show. Our best San Antonio divorce lawyers have some simple tips and reminders for you to consider before you go to court.
- You will go through security. Build in time to go through a security check. You don’t want to show up late to court because you didn’t account for going through security.
- Parking! Bring money for parking. I recommend that you bring both cash and a debit or credit card. Some parking lots only take cash and others only take debit or credit.
- You probably won’t have a jury. Unless you are one of the very rare types of divorce or custody cases, you will have a judge decide your case and not a jury. Typically, the only people in the courtroom will be you, your attorney if you have one, the other party and their attorney (if they have one), the judge, the bailiff and the court reporter. However, all hearings are public. So, people could watch your hearing if they wanted to. I recommend you don’t bring an entourage with you, it is too stressful and can be distracting. Also, I have had problems with clients who have brought their family and then their family members act inappropriately during court. They have either made faces, talked during the trial, or let their cell phones ring. That is not good for my clients! So, I typically tell people not to bring friends and family.
- It is public! Our best San Antonio divorce lawyers frequently see that people are surprised by the fact that there are dozens of other people at court as well. In Bexar County for example, we have a “presiding court system”. That means that when you arrive at court for your case, you will initially go to one big courtroom and the judge will do a roll call. The roll call is to manage all the cases that day. If you need a judge to decide your case, you are later on sent to another courtroom where another judge will decide your case. As a San Antonio divorce lawyer, one of the things I tell my clients to do is to get ready to wait. You could be waiting just a few minutes, to several hours for a court to become available to hear your case. I recommend that you bring any regular medications you need to take, your cell phone (which needs to be silent), and something to read.
- Don’t forget to eat! Even our best San Antonio divorce attorneys are just humans. We all need to eat. You need to eat too! So, bring money to buy yourself something to eat during lunch time. Most courts take a break for lunch, so you will have the opportunity to eat. It is also important that you don’t bring food or drinks in the courtroom. So, whatever you eat needs to be eaten outside of the courtroom.