Bfing/bringing baby to court
I have a subpoena to come into court as a witness for a civil trial. It really sucks that I have to go in at all, as I wasn't involved in the case whatsoever. One of my clients is being sued by his former web designer since he allegedly didn't pay her. This was before I was ever hired by him, and he just wants me there to testify how long it took me to make him a website. Personally, I think that is completely irrelevant to the matter at hand, but I digress.
I am bfing and working full time at home. I am the only one working right now, DH takes care of DS during the day while I work, and brings him into my office for feedings. The court is over an hour away, and so I'm going to have to drag DS all the way out there for trial.
I tried writing the judge a letter stating how difficult it would be for me to come and that I am bfing. I haven't gotten an answer yet from the judge's office...when I called to check on it yesterday I was told that,"the judge doesn't even know if he should be reading your letter." what the hell?
Anyways, am I allowed to bring DS into court? He is exclusively breastfed and WILL NOT take a bottle anymore (believe me we've tried.) Hopefully he won't get hungry during my testimony... ugh!
Re: Bfing/bringing baby to court
You shouldn't be raising the issue with the judge, you should be raising it with your client's attorney. Subpoenae, although carrying the weight of court, are issued by lawyers, not judges (usually). If you think that your testimony is irrelevant, ask the attorney whether you really need to be there - perhaps your itemized bill showing the time spent will suffice instead. The judge is uncomfortable reading/responding to your letter because it could be considered to be an ex parte communication which is a big nono.
If the attorney says you need to be there, then go. I'm not sure what to say about your son though: children are not appropriate to bring to court, but you're in a tricky situation. Can you bring someone with you who could keep your son in the hall and otherwise entertain him while you are otherwise engaged?
I agree with PP (and the judge), the judge should not read your letter. His job is to remain impartial and he has no idea what you might have in there that might relate to the case. You need to call the attorney who sent you the subpoena and ask if you can be "on call" or if he can narrow down the time you need to be there. It is sometimes possible to call a witness out of order so the attorney may be able to do that so you can arrive, testify ASAP and then go - this is something that would have to be approved by the judge and probably agreed to by the other side.
If you do have to go, can your DH go with you? That way he can hang out with baby outside the courtroom when you have to be inside. Or could you pump a feeding just in case??
I am sorry you have to do this, I always feel bad for my witnesses when they have to hang out in court all day.
Thanks for the replies!
The strange thing is, when I called into the judge's office last week to ask about not going the admin (or whoever it was) told me to write the letter to the judge and fax it in. So I don't know who that woman was but she apparently didn't know what she was talking about haha.
Thanks for the information, I'll try to contact my clients attorney. I really have no idea how all this stuff works.