Judge Romanek and Today's Virtual Courts
The Honorable Abbey Fishman Romanek, Circuit Judge in the Domestic Relations Division, was our speaker. She gave a fascinating “inside look” at the challenges of her position.
Judge Romanek has been in Family Court for five years. For some time that court had been divided between Parenting (unmarried couples with children) and Divorce Court (married couples with children). Shortly after Abbey joined the Family Court, those two divisions were joined together. Abbey’s approach to family disputes is that she is singularly focused on what’s best for the children.
COVID has changed court to “all virtual”. One of the advantages of that is saving the cost of trials. Many of the cases come in from the suburbs, so technically a lawyer’s billable time includes commuting time and time in court waiting for a case assignment. Virtual hearings change that. Abbey also tries to meet with attorneys pre-trial to work out a reasonable resolution without proceeding with a full trial.
Virtual trials also give the judge an opportunity to look into the individuals’ home situations. Some people are calm about all this, others are not. One husband in a divorce trial began breaking everything he could get his hands on … all in full view of Abbey.