Questions You Want Answered > What is the Court Process? > What is a Scheduling Order?
At your scheduling/initial conference, you will receive lot of papers. You need to read them. They tell you what you have to do, by when you have to do it, and where you have to be when you do it. The court judges how seriously you take your case by how carefully you follow the instructions in these documents. If you fail to appear on any of the dates the court tells you to appear on those orders, you run the risk of having your case dismissed or the court denying whatever you request. Make sure you write down all of the dates.
Some of the dates on the scheduling orders are deadlines that only your attorney needs to worry about. If you choose not to have an attorney, you really should invest in meeting with one so they can explain the scheduling order to you, as the court doesn't cut you any slack in procedure becasue you don't have an attorney.
Last updated on September 5, 2013 by Karen Robbins, Attorney at Law