Yesterday I got a bit of a lesson about how the Court system works from the clerk on my case (Arthur DeGuglielmo).
1. Filing Motions – you send in a motion. The motion is reviewed by the clerk (or assistant clerk) assigned to your case, who then directs your motion to the right judge. So the clerk apparently has quite a bit of influence. And remember: once a judge rules on a motion, any motion for reconsideration goes to that same judge.
Case in point: I filed the Motion to Sanction Fitzpatrick. The motion, in my opinion, should have gone to the main judge on the case, not Curran. Why? Because Curran is an emergency judge on a specific issue who is not spending the time to understand the issues. And the sanction is not about Fitzpatrick asking for discovery, but about representation of Moshe and Klaus. So it really should have been Judge Hogan or Judge Leibensperger.
2. In MA Middlesex Superior Court, judges rotate every three months. The clerk couldn’t direct me to any place that has an official policy on the subject.
Practical advice: keep in mind that people in Court are busy, so it may be a good idea to ensure that if it’s not clear which judge should be reviewing the motion, you might want to provide clarifying information to the clerk.
Thanks to the court Assistant Clerk who is responsible for my case: Arthur DeGuglielmo for explaining the process.
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