Q: A superior court judge gave my 13 yr old child's father temporary custody because she goes to public school online.
I had to defend myself without a lawyer. He did not offer a public defender. I do not think this was fair. I did not even get my 30 days to answer the order that was sent to me late because they sent the paper to the wrong address, even though the plaintiff's lawyer had my address because I had used him before. Was it right for him to defend the father after defending me in another case? The judge gave temporary custody until the end of the school year (May 2019) because he (Judge) did not agree with me having her in online school with the board of education
A: There is no such thing as a public defender for a family law case. If you want an attorney, you will have to fire one. If you had an issue with service, that should have been addressed formally with the court via a pleading. There may be some unfairness with what happened, but you will need an attorney to help clean up the filings, possible object to his attorney's conflict of interest if he represented you before and argue that you are allowed to make education decisions without the interference of the court. Contact an attorney to have a consultation.
A: I'd suggest retaining counsel to fight it. You thinking it is unfair doesn't change the fact that it happened. If you represent yourself, you are held to the same standards attorneys are. You are not entitled to a court appointed attorney in civil cases.
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