King County Superior Court Chief Civil Judge John Erlick and the Court as a whole would like to hear concerns of members of the bar and to answer frequently asked questions to share with practitioners. Judge Erlick invites you to ask questions by contacting him at erlick.court@metrokc,gov. The judge will be unable to personally answer all questions individually, but will select three or four questions of general interest to answer and publish in this bi–monthly column.
Dear Chief:
Our case has been assigned to a judge who is currently on the criminal case track. Is there any way we can have this case re-assigned to a judge on the civil track so we can have trial date certainty? Also, our issues are very complex. It would help to have the trial judge educated on the case before trial.
–Certainty Wanted
Dear Certainty:
Under the current system, all civil and criminal judges are pre-assigned civil cases. Your pre-assigned judge is commonly referred to as the Individually Calendared (or IC) judge. It is a common misconception that civil cases that are assigned to a civil judge have greater trial date certainty than those assigned to a criminal department judge. Most judges — whether assigned to the civil or criminal department — have multiple civil cases set for trial for a particular week. If the civil department judge has other cases that have not settled, your civil case may end up being brokered to another judge. Likewise, your civil department IC judge may end up brokered to the criminal department if there are criminal cases on expiration and other judges are not available.
Conversely, if your criminal department IC judge has been heavily involved in your civil case’s pre-trial matters and you have a particularly lengthy or complex case, counsel could make a request to the criminal IC judge to preside over the trial. That decision will depend on the availability of your IC judge, the availability of other judges to hear criminal cases and other factors.
Regardless of whether your case has been assigned to an IC judge in the civil or criminal department, there is no guarantee that your IC judge will be available to try the case. The trial assignments committee, which meets weekly, tries its best to accommodate as many cases and parties as possible, to maximize judicial resources and to get as many cases out as possible.
Dear Chief:
I need to get a show cause hearing before a judge, but am unsure where to file it and when to set it. Could I get some guidance on this please?
–Show Me the Cause
Dear Show:
Your question poses some challenges because I’m not sure the type of show cause hearing to which you are referring. There are various forms of show cause hearings: vacating judgments; contempt; non-compliance with case scheduling order. With the exception of show cause orders on non-compliance, which are issued by the clerk’s office, the general rule is that you must obtain the show cause order from either the Ex Parte or Family Law Department.
Before you obtain the order, you must check with your IC judge or UFC judge as to when the show cause hearing can be held in that court. If there is no assigned IC or UFC judge, the show cause hearing is set before the chief civil judge, except for UFC cases (Type 3 cases, with children), which are set before the UFC chief judge or the RJC chief judge, if the matter is a KNT designation. Now, on to specific types of show cause hearings:
Vacating judgments: Default judgments are governed by KCLR 55(c) and 60(e)(1). These local rules specify where to obtain the order to show cause (55(c)) and which judge shall hear the substantive motion to vacate the default judgment (60(e)(1)). Note that KCLR 60(e)(2) specifies the procedure for vacating judgments entered after trial.
Contempt. KC Local Family Law Rule (KCLFLR) 17 provides that motions for contempt on show cause orders should be noted on the family law motions calendar in accordance with the procedure set out in KCLFLR 6. For actions involving failure to pay support or maintenance, see RCW § 26.18.050 and for parenting plan contempt, see RCW § 26.09.160.
Non-Compliance with Case Scheduling Orders: These show cause orders are issued by the clerk’s office on parties who are not in compliance with the court’s case scheduling order. Show cause hearings at the King County Courthouse are set the first and third Thursdays of every month at 2:30 p.m. in the Chief Civil Courtroom, W-1060 for cases with an SEA designation. Hearings at the RJC are held at 1:30 p.m. on the second and fourth Tuesdays of each month in Courtroom 1F for cases with a KNT designation.
If the case is in compliance or comes into compliance before the show cause hearing, i.e., you have filed a confirmation of joinder, with Box 1 checked, you may advise the court via facsimile or email not later than five days before the date the show cause hearing is set. If you do not contact the court by that deadline, you must appear at the hearing.
The facsimile number for the Chief Civil Department is 206-296-0937; the email address is erlick.court@metrokc.gov. For KNT cases, the email address is robinson.court@metrokc.gov. DO NOT CALL THE COURT regarding show cause hearings. The clerk’s office sends out hundreds of show cause orders every month. The bailiff and clerk of our court are unavailable to answer questions and address show cause issues over the telephone. Please use our email or facsimile for that purpose.
For good cause, you may request a brief continuance of the show cause hearing. This may be done through the parties submitting a stipulation and proposed order to continue the show cause hearing. If you wish to receive confirmation of the continuation, please provide addressed envelopes for all parties with the appropriate postage.
Dear Chief:
I have a question regarding court procedure. I have noted a non-dispositive motion; however, I would like to request oral argument on the motion. What is the proper procedure for requesting oral argument? Thank you.
–Verbal Desire
Dear Verbal:
The procedure for non-dispositive motions is set out in KCLR 7(b)(3). If you want oral argument, the best procedure is to put it on the note for motion in bold letters “ORAL ARGUMENT REQUESTED.” The responding party may join in that request for oral argument, oppose it or request it in the responsive pleading, if not requested by the moving party. It is my practice to wait until I have all the briefing before I decide whether to grant oral argument.
Sometimes the issues are less contested — or less complex — than the parties may perceive. If I decide to grant oral argument, I ask my bailiff to contact the parties/counsel as to their availability on a proposed date. It usually will not be on the same day that the moving party noted the motion, because that is when the pleadings are initially reviewed. Generally speaking, I am aware of most judges following a similar procedure.
Dear Chief:
I represent domestic partners who are in the middle of a split-up. When I went to file the case for distribution of the couple’s assets, I noted that I received a " Case 2" civil case scheduling order. My client doesn’t want to wait 18 months to get these issues resolved. Additionally, she may need to get temporary orders entered. Why wasn’t this designated a “Case 3” family law case and assigned a family law scheduling order?
–Broken Up
Dear Broken Up:
The case designation codes are actually implemented at the state level and are not determined by our county clerk’s office. King County does recognize that dissolution of meretricious relationships/domestic partnerships may be more akin to family law dissolutions than to other civil or commercial matters. That is why the Local Family Law Rules (KCLFLR) spell out that the King County Superior Court will treat them as family law type cases. KCLFLR 1 provides domestic partners with the flexibility to have their motions heard by the family law commissioners and for a case schedule that follows family law: “Family law proceedings for the purpose of this rule include actions to divide the property or debts of a domestic partnership or quasi-marital relationship.”
