Family Law

DiseaseDetective asked:


Can anyone please help. My sister is in the fight of her life. She just lost sole custody of her 5month old son to her ex husband. From what I gather, her lawyer filed a motion for a continuance and told her that the judge would grant it and told her that she didn’t need to show up to court. Well, the day of her trial came around and neither her nor her lawyer were present. Thus he granted full custody to her ex. It has been a nasty and bitter fight for her and she has sunk in to a deep deep depression. I need help to shake her out of it!!!! The only problem is I’m in Australia and she’s in Texas. Can anyone help with any suggestions on the appeals process and or just general help regarding anything with family law?? Can she claim anything since her lawyer was incompetent? If so, where should she start???
She’s going through the appeals process now and is getting a new lawyer but can her old lawyer be held liable for the outcome of her 1st trial?

JD asked:


side request a continuance even though they were give notice ? As long as they are given notice that you have an attorney before the trial.