One of the questions that I am most frequently asked by clients about court hearings is, “Will I have to talk?” The answer to that question depends on the kind of hearing that is scheduled. This article is designed to give clients an overview of the types of hearings that are scheduled in Sedgwick County family law cases, and what the client can expect to occur at those hearings.
The type of hearing that occurs most often in Sedgwick County is the motion docket. Each of the five family law judges schedules these hearings differently. With some judges, dockets only occur on Mondays and Tuesdays. Other judges schedule motion hearings throughout the week.
At a motion docket hearing, the attorneys will each present a “proffer” of evidence by making an oral argument to the Court regarding the orders that the client is requesting and what they believe the evidence will prove at trial. The Judge may review limited evidence, but generally will not review an extensive amount of information or hear testimony from the parties or witnesses. At the conclusion of the hearing, the Judge will issue a ruling. The orders issued at a motion docket are generally temporary in nature.
Cases with custody or parenting time issues are usually then referred to Alternative Dispute Resolution or scheduled for a future hearing to address permanent orders. Motion hearings typically last thirty minutes to one hour. When the court reopened following the initial shut-down that occurred during COVID, hearings began occurring virtually. Currently, four of the family law judges continue to conduct all hearings via Zoom, while one family law judge requires that the hearings assigned to her occur in person.
If a case is not settled by agreement following the motion docket or Alternative Dispute Resolution, a Pretrial Conference will be scheduled. A Pretrial Conference is a scheduling conference that occurs between the attorneys and the judge’s aide. At the Pretrial Conference, the attorneys will file a Pretrial Conference Order, which lists the witnesses and exhibits that they may present at trial and the contentions and arguments that they will make at trial. During the Pretrial Conference, the Judge’s aide schedule the Evidentiary Hearing (or trial) date.
As with motion docket hearings, the Evidentiary Hearing will also occur via Zoom with most judges. At the Evidentiary Hearing, evidence is presented and the parties and witnesses testify under oath. Family law hearings are heard by a Judge, rather than a jury, and typically last one to three days.