The lower court found that the disclosure and augmentations Fletcher provided were sufficient to allow the bifurcation. The same can be said in every situation wherein the court bifurcates the trial, resulting in termination of the marital status prior to resolution of other issues. Here, the court reaffirmed the legislative intent that severance of a personal relationship which the law has found to be unworkable and, as a result, injurious to the public welfare, is not dependent upon final settlement of property disputes.
Society will be little concerned if the parties engage in property litigation of however long duration. Skip to content. Close Button. Remember, spousal support payments are deductible to the payor. In a case with more than one defendant, deciding liability first can potentially remove a defendant from the damages portion of the case. This is again advantageous to both sides, as the plaintiff will not need to prepare a case against a defendant who was found not liable, and the defendant who was found not liable need not worry about preparing for a damages trial.
Bifurcation is not without its risks, however. Without the damages component in the liability trial, a plaintiff is not able to fully convey the toll the incident at issue has had on their life. Returning to the auto accident example, perhaps the accident at issue occurred at a low speed, but the plaintiff required multiple surgeries.
Without being able to go into detail about their surgeries, the plaintiff in a bifurcated trial is only able to say they were involved in a low speed accident. The plaintiff can only make a general statement about suffering injuries, which may not sway a jury given the appearance of the accident. In addition, if the first trial for liability had a jury, it is possible that a new jury will be picked for the second trial, one which is not as favorable to the client as the first one.
Now the client has paid for two different trials and their case has been drawn out even longer, but they have ended up with a small reward. As a preliminary to, or in the course of hearing the motion to bifurcate, the trial court had power to consider and act upon circumstances which might justify modification of the pretrial order and a resumption of the oral phases of the pretrial conference.
That power was not narrowly confined to rectification of a pretrial conference order characterized by a violation of mandatory or directory Judicial Council rules. Rather, it was a power to replace a pretrial conference and order which, for any reason, had become obsolete or unsuitable. Let a writ of mandate issue directing respondent court to consider and decide whether the pretrial conference order of May 10, , should be modified by ordering resumption of the pretrial conference and restatement of the contents of the pretrial order; and, if such resumption of the pretrial conference is ordered, to consider and decide petitioners' bifurcation motion before the close thereof.
Section of the Code of Civil Procedure provides in part: "In a trial by jury, the court may, when the convenience of witnesses or the ends of justice would be promoted thereby, on motion of a party, after notice and hearing, make an order, no later than the close of pretrial conference in cases in which such pretrial conference is to be held, or, in other cases, no later than 10 days before the trial date, that the trial of the issue of liability shall precede the trial of any other issue in the case, except for special defenses which may be tried first pursuant to Section In a nonjury trial, the court may on its own motion make such order at any time.
California Rules of Court, rule d , directs each party to complete his discovery proceedings before the pretrial conference, but permits later discovery under these circumstances: "At or before the pretrial conference the court, for good cause shown, may order that the time for completion of any or all deposition and discovery proceedings be extended to a time following the pretrial conference but before the time set for trial.
California Rules of Court, rule a , declares in part: "Every case required to be pretried shall be set for trial for a place and time not earlier than the time of filing of the pretrial order and as nearly as possible not later than five weeks after the pretrial conference A court's failure to fulfill the five-week objective cannot be explained or justified by a large backlog of lawsuits on its Civil Active List. Superior courts are obliged by the Judicial Council rules to calendar cases for pretrial only to the extent of their capacity to comply with the five-week objective.
Rules of Court, rule a. Obviously a court may force itself into tardy trial calendaring by premature pretrial calendaring. The rules of the Judicial Council have the force of positive law. Helbush v. Helbush, Cal. Trickey v. Superior Court Annotate this Case. Third Dist. July 17, Morrison for Petitioners. No appearance for Respondent.
McGhee for Real Party in Interest. Pierce, P. It should be noted that even with a Motion for Bifurcation you cannot divorce any sooner than six months after your separation date. Even with a Motion for Bifurcation you cannot divorce any sooner than six months after your separation date.
Before you can file a Motion for Bifurcation you must file a preliminary Declaration of Disclosure on the other party. Once that is complete, you can move forward to request the bifurcation. Three to six weeks after you file the motion with the court with copies sent to the opposing party , you and your attorney will appear before the judge, at which point the court will grant or deny your request.
Assuming your case is straightforward, the court is likely to grant the request. Even if the request is granted, you or your spouse may still need to meet certain conditions, including:. If you want to take advantage of a bifurcation, be sure to file the necessary paperwork as early in the year as possible and not any later than November 15, since you will be one of many individuals looking to take advantage of bifurcation before the year ends.
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