How important is it to attend a hearing??

Question

I got a notice of hearing regarding a civil court case that was dismissed because the plaintiff failed to appear at the initial hearing (I am the named defendant.) The letter came via regular mail and was not served to me. It wasn't an order to appear, it was just an notice of hearing. The plaintiff apparently has now filed a motion to have the dismissal set aside. For what reasons I do not know, obviously it was dismissed because he did not show, but he has no basis to have it dismissed. my problem is that I have an out of state job assignment that is really crucial for me to take which falls in that time frame as the hearing. Since I wasn't ordered to appear is it possible to send a letter to the judge stating that the plaintiff has no legal basis to have the dismissal set aside and also to state i will be unable to attend. According to the clerk's office it will be the same judge deciding on the dismissal as ruled for the dismissal to begin with. Advice anyone! thanks!

I did check with the clerk's office they are not qualified to give legal advice..

I really don't see how they can get me for failure to appear when they cannot prove I got the letter in the first place as it came regular mail and not certified..

he did not refile..it is a hearing to have the dismissal set aside because of his failure to appear..it is not the small claims case that he orginally filed on..

The letter stated: Please take notice that a hearing is scheduled for August 28th based on a motion filed by the plaintiff to have the dismissal of case #xyz set aside. then it has the judge's signature on it and that is it..It doesn't say i have to appear..

I did not receive a copy of the motion to have a dismissal set aside, just a notice of a hearing for it..

Answer 1

I just got done with the same exact thing. It was a hearing to set aside a dismissal for a civil case. I went to the hearing because I didn't know what else to do and believe it or not, I was in the courtroom but I was never asked to come forward to speak with the judge..They only called the plaintiff, and the judge denied his motion to set aside the dismissal. The judge stated that there was no legal or factual basis to have the dismissal set aside. YOU DO NOT have to attend the hearing. Either he has a good reason for a dismissal or not and there is nothing that you can do or say to sway the judge either way. This is an attempt on the plaintiff's part to try to reopen the case without having to pay another filing fee, because he can file against you again but he will have to pay the fee again.
Also to thunder above that said use common sense you need to practice what you preach because if you had any common sense, you would know that the people that work in the clerk's office are not allowed to give you legal advice, you have to tell them what you want to file and they will provide the documents, there was nothing wrong with asking advice from people here on yahoo answers on how to proceed.
Good Luck to you sarahbear!

Answer 2

Well that is not always true that they would not be able to have the dismissal set aside because they did not appear to the first hearing. While in most cases the dismissal would stand, if the Plantiff can show cause for why they did not appear, then the court may have to reverse the initial finding and reset the hearing date.

If you are not able to make the hearing then I suggest that you contact the clerk for the judge that is presiding over the case. I would not send a letter stating that the person has no legal standing to make this motion, unless you are 100% sure that the indeed are filing a false claim.

If you wish to attend then you need to see if the hearing can be rescheduled and then go to that hearing so that you will be able to hear what is being said. You more than likely will not be able to speak, however, some judges do allow others to make statements if they pertain to the case. Otherwise, you will need to just appear at the rescheduled hearin for your original case if the dismissal is overturned.

Answer 3

It's not that critical to attend that particular hearing, but you definitely should send the letter you proposed to the judge. But you see that attending hearing is, generally speaking very important: that's why the plaintiff's case was dismissed. And if you could be there (if the thing that prevents you from attending is rescheduled), it would be better, so that you can respond to any unexpected reasons the plaintiff puts forth for why the dismissal should be set aside.

If you have questions about these sorts of things, it is good to err on the side of caution and show up. But in this case, it is not really necessary. Now, if the dismissal is indeed set aside, and you are notified of that fact, then you'd better go to whatever hearings are set after that. And you should also notify your insurance company. Even if they don't have to indemnify you for the particular situation of which the plaintiff complains, they may still owe you a defense. That is, they will hire you a lawyer to defend you. It's worthwhile to find out.

Answer 4

Did you receive a copy of his motion to set aside the dismissal? If not you should respond that you didn't receive a copy of the motion and request that his motion be rescheduled until after you receive a copy. In addition you can request the court to order that the plaintiff contact you about the re-scheduled date to minimize the interference with your work. It is important that you attend and request that the court not set aside the dismissal and ask for cost to be paid if the court decides to set it aside. Your jurisdiction and judge might not follow the above outline because it is just a model of procedure. So don't rely on this instead get an attorney that knows the civilproceedure code and the rules your judge applies in his (her) court. good luck

Answer 5

It is necessary to have an attorney attend who represents you. If you do not, then the request to reverse dismissal may be granted by default just as the original complaint was dismissed by default when the plaintiff didn't show.

This is not certain. It is impossible to know how a judge will rule on any given day, so you need to put in an appearance, via your attorney, just to be sure.

The word attorney essentially means one who can appear in your place for you, as if you were there for yourself.

Note that this can depend upon which type of civil case. For example, child support or paternity cases are going to eventually end up in court, no matter what happens.

Things like a suit for minor damages of some kind may indeed by permanently rejected, based on the failure to appear.

IN any case, better get an attorney to appear for you, or you MAY be sorry later.

Answer 6

They can't "get you" for failure to appear. You have no legal obligation to attend. But if you aren't there to argue against the Plaintiff, he may win this round for the same reason that you won the first one---because there is no opposition.
So go...to protect your rights. Better yet, hire an attorney. As a party in the suit, you are entitled to request a change of date.

(If this whole suit was the result of an automobile accident, your insurance company should have provided you with an attorney, by the way. The same is true if it involved someone claiming they got hurt on your property, if you were insured.)

Answer 7

I would call someone at the courthouse and ask to be sure. I don't know if your presence will change things one way or the other. The plaintiff either has the right to have the dismissal set aside or he/she doesn't. BTW, my ex-husband was told it wasn't necessary to attend our child-support hearing that it would make no difference. He failed to notify his lawyers of his decision not to attend. I would say they were very wrong, it made a big difference. Also, I agree with Tim up there.

Answer 8

So if I understand, you have a civil case that has the possibility of being re-instated, but you can not attend on the day since you are out of state working. So in your mind the best course of action is to post this question on a website instead of taking 5 minutes to pick up the telephone and call the court and ask them to postpone the hearing until you get back.

Makes perfect sense!

Answer 9

I would do as you suggest, send a letter to the judge stating your reason for not being able to attend the hearing and that you do not believe that the plaintiff has no basis to reinstate his claim. I would further check with the clerk's office to see if it can be changed to a date when you will be able to attend. If it can be then I would be there.

Answer 10

Notify the court, ask for a postponement,but definitly let the court know you cant make it. Sounds like yur going to be in the same spot of not showing up like the other person was. Dont ignore this.