Divorce Las Vegas style: No more quickies

      For half a century, Nevada was famous as the home of the quickie divorce. "We called it 'the six-week cure,' " recalls District Court Judge Myron Leavitt.
      Today, Nevada's the domain of the divorce that won't quit.
      Bob, a police officer who asked that his last name not be used, filed for divorce in 1992. It took two years just to get a divorce decree, and he has been tied up in Family Court nearly five years over custody and child support issues.
      "We have been to court 52 times," he said. "It has cost me over $10,000 in attorney fees."
      The last time he was hailed to court was to adjust a custody agreement determining what portion of the Christmas holidays his child would spend with each parent. His wife's lawyer had written the agreement, but was moving to change the arrangement only a few weeks later.
      "We have decided the Christmas holiday issue four or five different ways. Visitation has been decided at least three different times, and how I pay my child support at least four."
      John Wawerna, the officer's lawyer, said, "The problem with Family Court is there is rarely finality to a case. ... It seems like the court is willing to micromanage each family and each decision, either by injecting themselves into things two people should have been able to handle, or referring it outside for services ad nauseam."
      A wealthy couple who filed for divorce after only three months of marriage were in and out of court for nine years. Their saga ended only last summer, when the mother petitioned the court to terminate her parental rights. She declared herself defeated by her inability to get the court to enforce visitation rights it had granted her.
      It was in January 1993 that the Family Division of the Clark County District Court opened its doors.
      One of the announced goals was to provide specialized jurists, family law experts who would presumably render better decisions.
      Another was to break the logjam of divorce-related cases that had clogged the Clark County District Court. But while the first goal may have been accomplished, the second has not.
      Some former couples still find themselves in limbo for years, unable to lawfully remarry and uncertain of the permanency of custody arrangements.
      Truly uncontested divorces, involving young couples who earn individual livings, have no children and have few community assets to divide, can be settled quickly.
      "My record for one of those was 36 hours," said Marshal Willick, an attorney who concentrates on family law.
      But in longer marriages, with issues of child custody and spousal support, "a year to two years is a typical time," said attorney Bob Dickerson.
      Dickerson said it may take three months just to get a motion before a judge.
      "One of the big problems is that you can't get through. I need four hours of court time to settle some property issues in a case I am handling, and I can't get in there," he said.
      Delays mean a lot more than frustration, said Rhonda Mushkin, chair of the bench-bar committee of lawyers and Family Court judges. The panel meets periodically to discuss court procedures and problems.
      "You can get a hearing maybe three or four months after you file for divorce, and in that time there may be a huge change in the factual complexion of the case. Maybe there was $20,000 in the bank and it isn't there any more. Maybe the jewelry got hocked."
      American Bar Association committees studying family courts have suggested that no divorce should take more than one year from the filing of petitions to the granting of divorce decree, and 98 percent should be disposed of within six months.
      The National Center for State Courts said most of the divorce courts it studied in 1992 came close to meeting the one-year goal, but only one came close to the six-month mark.
      Chuck Short, District Court administrator, said the court's computer system will not show how close Clark County's Family Court came to those suggested goals. But nobody in the court system suggests that it is a near miss.
      Efforts to speed up cases have not been consistent among the judges. Christina Chandler, who works for Short as Family Court administrator, said Family Court judges as a group have not adopted the Bar Association one-year standard, or any other time standard, as a target for resolving divorce cases. Some individual judges set their own targets, she said.
      Short said, however, that even extraordinarily efficient case management will never be able to make up for the key cause of the logjam: There simply aren't enough judges.
      Two new judges who took the bench in January brought the Family Court total to eight. One judge will be devoted to juvenile matters and another must carry a reduced caseload because of additional duties as presiding judge. That means every other judge must carry about 2,500 cases at any given time.
      "I have not been able to find any court in the country with a caseload this great," Short said.
      The standard recommended by the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges is 800. The District Court is asking the Legislature for six judges, three for the family division and three for the civil-criminal division.
      Family Court Judge Robert Gaston, however, is pushing an amendment that would allow the court to allocate those judges to either division, based on need.
      Some observers suggest the entire court will be lucky to get four, and those would not be able to take their seats until 1999.
      Family Court Judge Terrance Marren said the court is unable to reduce a backlog of thousands of cases but notes some progress.
      "At one time it took 10 to 12 weeks, from the time you filed a motion, before there would be a hearing on that motion. We've reduced that to three or four weeks," Marren said.
      Some judges handle cases faster than others. Attorneys privately criticize Judge Gloria Sanchez for allowing some lawyers to argue motions too long. That translates to time wasted waiting for their own cases to be called and additional hours billed to clients.
      Marren and Gaston now limit routine arguments to five minutes. Judge Steven Jones is considered the speediest judge, pressuring litigants to resolve issues outside the courtroom.
      Judges are equipped with court rules that enable them to penalize lawyers for filing incomplete or frivolous motions; some use them, and some do not.
      Some attorneys said the slow pace of litigation is built into the court because it seeks to resolve issues by means other than court orders.
      Attorney Don Campbell said he accepts few family law cases, partly because Family Court judges refer too many people to court-appointed experts.
      "I know of one mother who has had her child in therapy literally since she was old enough to talk. It is expensive, it is time consuming, it is counterproductive, yet the courts are reluctant to stop this nonsense. A cottage industry has built up of family practitioners, marriage counselors and therapists.
      "There is a kind of professional incest between the legal and counseling professions. It isn't in the financial interest of a therapist to say, `You don't need any more therapy,' and drawing out the case makes more money for the lawyer. But it is terribly harmful to the child."
      But Roger Wirth, who has practiced family law in Clark County for 26 years, said a little micromangement may be an unavoidable function of the kind of court it is, and the judges who are willing to run for it.
      "Sometimes the effect of getting people who really care is also the downfall," said Wirth. "The problems in the Family Court may be the side effects of its best features."