angiEmedia

In yet another symptom of the diseased San Diego Family Law courts and State of California, an illness on the bench is causing months of delays in trials and hearings. Judge Lorna Alksne is filling in for an ill judge in El Cajon (East County) court from Tuesday to Thursday, leaving only Monday and Friday for her to hear her own cases. The result is that hearings and trials are being pushed back, sometimes for months. In today’s broken courts, it’s not unusual for San Diego divorces to take more than two years of legal warfare. It’s a far cry from anybody’s concept of a “fair and speedy trial”. Sometimes, it is more like government-assisted child abuse.
Read more…

The following is an email recently sent to parties who have expressed an interest in the work of the Elkins Task Force. They have recently posted their “draft final recommendations” document for public review. They are asking for comments to be turned in by December 4, 2009, at 5pm. Skimming through the document, there are some good ideas and some really bad ones, too. If you’ve been affected by the corrupt disaster that is the family law courts in California, it would truly behoove you to take a look at what may be coming down the pike and submit comments to encourage them to pursue the good ideas and revise or abandon the bad ones. I’ll be posting more thoughts on it as I get a chance to read it in more detail.
Read more…

The UCtelevision program “Access to Justice in Family Court” embedded below features a panel of 5 legal professionals filmed on November 14, 2008, discussing the problems of access to justice in California family law courts. The primary focus of the discussions is the problems of providing court services to unrepresented litigants which comprise 70% or more of those in the family law courts in the state. This includes a discussion of “limited scope” representation in which parties can get help from attorneys without fully engaging them for hundreds of hours of work. This video is worth a watch for anybody interested in the family law system in California.
Read more…

County of San Diego Judge Lorna Alksne

What started with a dispute over allegedly fraudulent credentials and work history of San Diego County, California, family law section 730 child custody / psychological evaluator Stephen Doyne is expanding to encompass the entire family law court system in the county. Flying about are accusations of corruption, irresponsible conduct, law violations, and other problems committed by judges, judicial staff, lawyers, and the large community of “professionals” associated with the San Diego family law courts who make their living off the conflict and misery of divorced families from which they profit and in some cases encourage.

Psychological Evaluator Stephen Doyne, Ph.D. Sued for Fraud

Local TV channel KGTV (channel 10) news aired a story about the problems with psychological evaluations in the county and with Stephen Doyne in particular. Doyne is being sued by father Emad Tadros who is deputy head of psychiatry for Scripps Behavioral Health Services which is a large health care organization in the area.

Tadros is suing Doyne in relation to a psychological evaluation he performed connected with a child custody dispute. Based upon court records, the problem case involves both Tadros and mother Yvonne Leijen. Leijen filed a paternity claim in 2004. In 2009, she filed domestic violence actions against Tadros. Oddly, she filed actions on the same day in two courts — both Central San Diego and North County Vista courts. Such filings are routine tactics in California child custody battles, even when no domestic violence exists.

Doyne is claimed to have misrepresented his credentials and work history. To pump up his reputation, he lists a diploma-mill certificate from an organization that has even issued such a certificate to a pet cat.

Read more…

The “Elkins Task Force” has been set up to help correct problems in the family law courts in California.

The next Elkins Family Law Task Force meeting is on Monday, April 6, 2009, at the Judicial Council Conference Center of the Administrative Office of the Courts in San Francisco. It is scheduled for 10:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. at:

Administrative Office of the Courts
455 Golden Gate Avenue
Milton Marks Auditorium, Lower Level
San Francisco, California 94102

Read more…

The “Elkins Task Force” has been set up to help correct problems in the family law courts in California.

The next Elkins Family Law Task Force meeting is on Tuesday, February 24, 2009, from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. This meeting will be at the following location:

Department of Water & Power
111 N. Hope Street, Lower Level
Los Angeles, California 90012

Read more…