PROBATE
AND FAMILY COURT ANNOUNCES APPROVAL OF
STANDING ORDER
1-06, "CASE MANAGEMENT AND TIME STANDARDS
FOR
CASES FILED IN THE PROBATE AND FAMILY COURT"
Chief
Justice Dunphy has announced that Chief Justice for Administration
and Management Robert A. Mulligan approved Standing
Order 1-06, 
"Case
Management and Time Standards for Cases Filed in the
Probate and Family Court Department" with an effective
date of April 3, 2006. This new standing order replaces
Standing Order 1-04, "Time Standards for Cases
Filed in the Probate and Family Court Department."
The
new Standing Order contains revisions to the Probate
and Family Court Time Standards, and is the result of
a comprehensive review process undertaken by the Probate
and Family Court Steering Committee on Performance and
Accountability beginning in the summer of 2005, which
provided opportunity for comment with the experience
of nearly one year's activities under the Time
Standards.
Chief
Justice Dunphy said "All those involved in the
development of the revised Standing Order believe that
it strikes a balance between the efficacy of early intervention
through case management conferences (ADR. referrals,
G.A.L. appointment, establishment of discovery schedules,
certainty of future Court event dates) and the concerns
expressed about the addition of these events to the process
of litigation in the Probate and Family Court." The
revisions will encourage the use of administrative and
telephonic procedures to reduce the cost of appearing
at the courthouse. Among the revisions are the scheduling
of the Case Management Conference after the return of
service has been filed, which will also give the opportunity
in divorce cases for the initial required exchange of
discovery, and the increased use of Joint Stipulation
on Case Management Conference, eliminating the need to
appear in person at Case Management Conference, if a
Joint Stipulation is accepted by the Court. The Track
Assignment Notice will now be served by the plaintiff
and in domestic relations and equity actions there will
be notice of possible dismissal for failure to complete
service as provided in the Rules of Civil and Domestic
Relations Procedure. It will continue to be possible
to conduct the Case Management Conference at a motion
session if earlier than the scheduled case management
conference date.
"We
are grateful to the many Judges, Registers of Probate,
Chief Probation Officers, court staff, and members of
the bar who participated in the development of the revisions
to our Time Standards Standing Order. The new Standing
Order will provide uniform and consistent procedures
for lawyers and litigants, and will serve to provide
the users of our court with a more predictable, efficient,
and cost-effective process while at the same time continuing
to be sensitive to individual family issues", Chief
Justice Dunphy said.
The
text of Standing Order No. 1-06 is reprinted in the News
from the Courts section of Lawyer's Weekly and
also may be found at http://www.mass.gov/courts/courtsandjudges/courts/probateandfamilycourt/index.html .
