SANTA CLARA COUNTY BAR ASSOCIATION

FAMILY LAW SECTION MEETING

February 19, 2014

Santa Clara County Bar Associations Offices

31 North Second Street, 4th Floor
San Jose, California 95113

AGENDA

1. CALL TO ORDER [12:15 pm]

2. ANNOUNCEMENTS
a. Hon. Susan Bernardini – Supervising Judge, Family Court
i. CJEO Formal Opinion No. 2014-004 [ex parte notice – see attached]
b. Settlement Officer – Kimberly Wesley-Parker
c. Family Court Services
d. DCSS
e. Court Manager – Mavy Rodriguez
f. Self-Help Center – Fariba Saroosh
3. SUB-COMMITTEES
a. FLEC: Elainie Honjas
b. Minors’ Counsel: Alexis Moody & Sharon Roper
i. Teen Orientation
ii. Best Practices
iii. Recruitment
c. Strategic Planning Sub-Committee: Kathy Schlepphorst & Julie Saffren
d. LGBT/DP Sub-Committee: Tracy Duell-Cazes
e. Education Sub-Committee: Lynn Yates-Carter & Cecelia Soboleski
f. Guardianship Sub-Committee: Jennifer Kelleher
g. Legislative Sub-Committee: John Nieman & Sheila Peterson
h. Local Rules Sub-Committee: Bob Evans
i. BFA Rules & Forms
i. Domestic Violence Sub-Committee: Nicole Ford
j. Social Sub-Committee: Sonya Wickliffe & Alexis Moody
i. Meet & Greet – Save the Date – 3/26/2014
ii. Bocce Ball – Save the Date – 4/30/2014
k. Budget – January Stramaglia
l. Pro Bono Liaison – Announcement – Julie Saffren
m. Newsletter – Brad Baugh
n. Secretary & Alternate Secretaries – NEED VOLUNTEERS
4. SANTA CLARA COUNTY FAMILY LAW ATTORNEYS EMERITUS FUND
5. TEEN ORIENTATION
6. DISCUSSION
7. NEW BUSINESS?
8. ADJOURN

NEXT SECTION MEETING – March 12, 2014

 SANTA CLARA COUNTY BAR ASSOCIATION
FAMILY LAW SECTION MEETING
January 8, 2014

Santa Clara County Bar Association Offices

31 North Second Street, 4th Floor
San Jose, California 95113

MINUTES
1. CALL TO ORDER [12:20 pm]
2. ANNOUNCEMENTS
a. Hon. Susan Bernardini – Supervising Judge, Family Court
 JUDGMENTS – a concerted effort has been made to get the
clerk’s office caught up. Last month a clerk from Sunnyvale
has been assigned the singular task of just working on
Judgments. It is the intention of the court for the back-log to
never happen again and procedures to avoid this are being
examined. There will be Judicial training for attorneys and their
staff to reduce the number of problem submissions. (see Brown
Bag schedule for Judical instructions on preparing Judgments)
 Self-Help Clinic: new procedure in D. 72 & 74 – group
status conferences (GSC) – ONLY for Self Represented
Parties. After the presentation the litigants are divided into 4
groups. NOTE: If an attorney is subbed into one of these cases,
the attorney should call the clerk’s office to change the date of
the status conference ahead of time. Check the on-line records
for “GSC” (Group Status Conference).
 Judicial Settlement Conferences: Pilot program with Comm.
Joseph in South County. See attached ‘ground rules’. Must
have both sides represented and ready to go – no discovery
issues outstanding. There is a chance that the case might be
given a full day of the Commissioner’s direct attention.
 New judges - orientation to family court this week. Some
cases may be re-assigned to a more experienced Judge –
depends on whether it is identified by former APJ as a difficult
case.
 Status Conferences – looking into how to manage better.
Currently it causes more work for the clerks to pull all files and
to refile afterwards, problem is that there are many no-shows.
 Looking into: electronic review; robo-calling for reminders to
attend; necessity (or not) to have every file pulled?
b. Settlement Officer – Kimberly Wesley-Parker
 Next available SOC in March. There are cancellations. Call
Shawn 408-882-2902 or Kimberly 408-882-2932.
 Looking for more certified Pro Tems.
 Check call-in number for next available date 408-882-2988.
 Will also act as Special Master (or Temp Judge) for Real Estate
issues. The forms are on the court’s website. In addition, she
does also process Judgments and Stipulations as Judge Pro
Tem.
c. Family Court Services – CJ Neusteder
a. No more Evaluations
b. FCS is looking to hire 2 more mediators
c. Wait times:
o 5 week wait for mediation PCP. Sunnyvale less.
o Screenings 3-4 days.
o Orientation 4 days.
d. DCSS – Nancy Space
 Received a letter from the State DCSS re: change in policy–
 DCSS can only enforce (not establish or modify) ongoing
Spousal Support AND only if there is ongoing child
support in the case. DCSS will not enforce Spousal
Support arrears.
 Note: If both spousal and child support are contained in same
Request for Orders, it is to be heard first by the APJ for Spousal
Support, then the APJ will set hearing for the Child Support
issues in the appropriate department.
f. Court Manager – no one appeared
g. Self-Help Center –no one appeared - see notes from Judge Bernardini

3. Sub-Committee Updates
a. Minor's counsel: reminder – Minor’s Counsel all need to renew
b. LGBT – Formerly ‘Domestic Partners’: will be expanding issues &
clarification of old issues
c. Education:
o Brown Bags tentatively planned for Spring:
 Jan 14 – Tracy’s Legislative Update
 March 4 – Judgments (Part I) – J. Grilli & Carla
  March 11 – Procedural Problems – Rich Roggia
 March 18 – Guardianships – Jennifer (LACY)
 March 25 – Co-mingling – BJ Fadem
 April 1 – Judgments (Part II) – Judge Grilli & Carla
 April 8 – Depositions – Mark Erickson
o Long Programs (tentative):
 March 14 – Custody Trial without an Expert
 April or May – Stock Options / Employee Benefits – Sally
White & Lynn Yates Carter
 June – TBA – Ron Granberg
d. Guardianship: Jennifer
o A.Persky’s courtroom
o Brenda will be coming back to Probate Court
o J. Persky will only allow contested matters that can be heard between
10:30 -4:00 – everything else will be considered Long Cause and will
be re-assigned.
o Problem: there is a 6 week wait for hearing after obtaining a ex parte
order.
o Court Investigators – staffing problem
e. Legislation: John – First meeting Feb 1 Jan 25 at 9:30am at Constance
Carpenter’s office 730 N. First Street
o Additional meetings, March 1, April 5th.
f. Local Rules: Bob Evans – working on BFA rules & Forms
g. Social: Alexis/Sonia:
o Bocci Ball planned for the summer – to take up the entire facility.
o Meet & Great the Judges – Bella Mia in February or March
4. OTHER MATTERS
a. Looking for a non-profit that can hold funds for the “Santa Clara
County Attorney Emeritus Fund” – remembering those that came
before us.
b. D.83 (Grilli) pilot project – The Young Children’s Settlement Project
– need update
c. Teen Orientation – is evolving – now includes Mental Health
Professionals. The size of the class continues to grow. If you would
like to volunteer – talk to Judge M. Greenwood.
5. ADJOURN

Next Section Meeting – February 19, 2014 (due to holiday)

 CJEO FORMAL OPINION 2014-004

EX PARTE NOTICE FOR REQUESTS FOR EMERGENCY ORDERS

PLEASE NOTE – PER JUDGE BERNARDINI

Judge Bernardini has read, analyzed and discussed the recent CJEO Formal Opinion No.
2014-004 regarding ex parte notice for requests for emergency orders.

All Declarations in Support of Ex Parte Application for Orders (FM-1103) MUST include
a written explanation in support of all requests to waive the notice requirement before it is
submitted to a judicial officer for review.

FM-1103 provides a space for an explanation on page 2 under 5.c. – “Further Explanation
… Other:” There is only one (1) blank line given for that explanation but the document
examiner will attach a handwritten statement on a separate sheet of paper if necessary.

Canon 3B(7) of the Judicial Code of Ethics requires judicial officers to require a separate
written explanation stating the reasons for the request to waive notice. Currently, most attorneys
are including their reasons for waiving notice in their declarations supporting their request for the
emergency orders. The ethics opinion makes it clear that judicial officers can no longer review
those substantive declarations until the document examiner receives the FM-1103 with a
separate written explanation for why notice should be waived.

Therefore – if you are asking for ex parte emergency orders AND are requesting a waiver
of notice – specify your reasons for waiving notice on FM-1103 or a separate piece of paper to
attach to FM-1103. Do NOT merely include it in your declaration in support of the requested
orders.