Lawyers and the Adversarial Court Process
Lawyers often play a significant role in creating hostilities and encouraging a parent to engage in Hostile-Aggressive Parenting. Although there are many fine and outstanding family law lawyers who sincerely try their best to resolve a family’s differences, unfortunately, there are a number of lawyers who use unnecessary inflammatory, derogatory and exaggerated language in affidavits, which helps to keep emotions high and court battles going.
Procedural roadblocks and personal attacks on witnesses are a common strategy used by lawyers to protect an HAP parent and to help conceal that parent’s behaviour. These lawyers as well also encourage their clients to make perjured statements to the court. The attitude is to win for the client no matter what the cost is to the children or the families. Some of the most damaging forms of hostile-aggressive behaviours are sometimes done with the full knowledge and support of the lawyer of an HAP parent.
There seems that the prevalent thinking in the court system today is to give care and control of children to only one person where conflict exists. Some of the less caring lawyers, aware that courts tend to give power and control to only one parent when conflict exists, may encourage their clients to go so far as to provoke conflict as part of an overall strategy to win in court. Some lawyers have been exposed for putting barriers to the release of information critical to a child abuse investigation, because this information would place their client in a bad light. Unfortunately, the obligation of a lawyer to work in the best interest of their client, sometimes works against the best interest of the child, which undoubtedly will cause conflict with the other parent.
Procedural roadblocks and personal attacks on witnesses are a common strategy used by lawyers to protect an HAP parent and to help conceal that parent’s behaviour. These lawyers as well also encourage their clients to make perjured statements to the court. The attitude is to win for the client no matter what the cost is to the children or the families. Some of the most damaging forms of hostile-aggressive behaviours are sometimes done with the full knowledge and support of the lawyer of an HAP parent.
There seems that the prevalent thinking in the court system today is to give care and control of children to only one person where conflict exists. Some of the less caring lawyers, aware that courts tend to give power and control to only one parent when conflict exists, may encourage their clients to go so far as to provoke conflict as part of an overall strategy to win in court. Some lawyers have been exposed for putting barriers to the release of information critical to a child abuse investigation, because this information would place their client in a bad light. Unfortunately, the obligation of a lawyer to work in the best interest of their client, sometimes works against the best interest of the child, which undoubtedly will cause conflict with the other parent.
