Editor’s note: On March 5, the Texas Lawyer editorial department hosted a roundtable discussion in Fort Worth, "Domestic Relations: How to Make Your Case in Family Court." Panelists included 231st District Judge Randy Catterton, 233rd District Judge William Harris, 324th District Judge Jerome Hennigan and 360th District Judge Michael Sinha. This is the first part of the discussion. The second part will be published in an upcoming issue. The judges’ discussion covered pretrial procedures, how lawyers should package documents, what associate judges hear, requests for attorney fees and mediated settlement agreements. It has been edited for length and style.
John Council, senior reporter, Texas Lawyer, Dallas: Good morning. . . . [I]t’s part of my job to report on trial procedures for [the] benefit of you and your clients, and that’s why we are gathered here today with this exceptional panel of Tarrant County family court judges to see what we can learn from them. I want to thank Judge Randy Catterton, Jerry Hennigan, Bill Harris and Michael Sinha for joining us. So without any further ado, let’s start with the questions. . . . What if an opposing party sets a case for a hearing and the opposing lawyer either doesn’t show up in your courtroom or really late? How long would you wait to make that attorney wait in your courtroom for the hearing to begin? What do you do?
