In re: Marriage Of Fong is an instructional case for civil litigation, and therefore is famous among family attorneys. But what does this mean for the lay person going through a divorce, and why is it important to know about?
Here's my two cents: watch what your attorney is doing. So many parties going through litigation blindly trust their attorneys, without trying to verify their work. The internet is a great place to search for any topic regarding your case. And if you search for "discovery" rules in divorce cases, chances are you'll wind up with a search result of "In re: Marriage Of Fong".
What happened to Marci is huge. I can't say whether she was watching over what her attorney was doing, but had her attorney been working for me, I would've caught the simple error that made the case so famous. Her attorney neglected to file mandatory disclosure forms (typically just a few pages) and this wound up costing Marci $200,000.
A San Jose law firm (almadenvalleylawyers.com) posted the following for couples on their law blog:
Selecting an attorney is a very important decision, and in my experience - I've found it quite common that attorneys tend to overpromise and do more talking and bluffing than prudently and carefully practicing good law. My attorney, Casey Olsen, is very fastidious, and with nearly 30 years of practice as a trial lawyer, he did a great job and deserves his prestigious reputation.
But it doesn't take an exceptional lawyer to fill out the simple disclosure courts that are required by the courts. This is a basic requirement that any practicing attorney should know. And just because an attorney has passed the bar or talks up a good storm doesn't mean you shouldn't watch what he/she is doing. In this case, it cost the client $200,000.
