Court lost our file

[cranberry]

I was informed by my lawyer last week that the court house has lost our 11yr old file! And its also been marked Inactive. I am sure that between the two lawyers, it can be rebuilt but I am curious to know if this has happened to anyone? Is this a common thing? How does an 11yr old active file get lost and marked inactive? What happens if it is not found?

My lawyer was also told by the clerk who discovered this that nothing can continue in a courtroom unless and until it has been found and marked active. Does this sound right?

The kicker -- apparently the other side was informed about our missing file almost two months ago when they called to book a settlement conference; the date was marked reserved only, not officially booked. They have been stringing us along for weeks keeping this information to themselves. My lawyer has written the other side asking that the date be vacated and that we (I), as always, are prepared to mediate to resolve the ongoing issues. No response yet.

^^ The paragraph directly above is mostly a rant/vent. Not much we can do if what the clerk said is true.

Any insight from the forum would be most appreciated.

[arabian]

I have an inherent distrust of second-hand information. I would recommend going to the courthouse yourself to check it out.

[cranberry]

Oh, its definitely lost. My lawyer's assistant has had a couple of calls with the court clerks and stopped to inquire about it at the counter the following day. We got the information directly from the court house clerk, not the other side. However, it would not hurt for me to go and ask myself. Just thought I would see if this happened to anyone else in the forum. I am still trying to wrap my head around how could an active 11 yr old file be marked inactive and go missing.

We just finished a private parenting assessment, report filed in April, and this non-existant, reserved only settlement conference was to address the assessor's recommendations. Definitely not an inactive file!

[Stillbreathing]

Our file went missing once. This was at a time we were being forced to chase our case conference judge all over the province. We chased that judge to four different cities. Oh what fun that was. Even better, the one time the judge even admitted she hadn’t read our materials but went on to make recommendations anyways.
Your file will eventually show up.

[cranberry]

Yikes! The joy that is family law. Thank you. Even if it isn't found it can be rebiult but nice to know someone else's lost file was eventually found.

[arabian]

Yes do ask about it yourself and demand an explanation from supervisor. Remember, government workers ... CYA... go home at 4:30... don't give a shit.

[Helpmyspouse]

I agree with other posters. Go check for yourself at the court house. Don't even trust your lawyer. It's sad but true. Lawyers only care about their own agendas. Nobody can care more for your case than you.