Wife goes through multiple attorneys, but fails to get continuation

Tennessee case summary on the divorce process.

Wife fails to get continuance after going through multiple attorneys.

Justin Zachery Conners v. Kelly Suzanne Hahn

In 2019, the husband in this Williamson County, Tennessee, case filed for divorce from his wife of ten years. His allegations included adultery and habitual drunkenness or abuse of narcotics.

The case dragged on over a number of years due to discovery disputes and multiple withdrawals of attorneys. The wife’s initial attorney resigned due to a breakdown in client communication. However, this attorney later resumed representation. A few months later he requested to withdraw due to the lack of cooperation from the wife in completing the discovery.

Another attorney tried to comply with the discovery, but the spouse objected to its adequacy. The court agreed, granted the husband the divorce, and dismissed the wife’s counterclaim.

A hearing was set to determine the remaining issues. The hearing was postponed and set for May 20, 2023. The wife’s new lawyer resigned at this point, citing an escalating conflict between attorney and client. The wife filed a long document expressing her dissatisfaction. The trial court granted the motion, finding that it was unethical and impossible for the lawyer to continue. The court denied the motion after a fruitless hunt for Wife. Later, she claimed to have misunderstood and believed that only a written request was required. The trial court did not budge and conducted the final hearing according to schedule. The wife’s mannerisms and speech during the trial prompted the court order a drug screen, which resulted in her testing positive for several drugs. The trial court found the wife incompetent to give testimony, but allowed her to provide evidence, which she refused. The wife declined to make a final argument. The court found she had abandoned her children and awarded custody to their father. The trial court, with few exceptions found that the husband’s proposed distribution was fair and equitable. The court awarded the marital home to the husband because it was the only place the children knew. The court divided the equity in the home and other assets equally.

The judge also determined that the husband’s unpaid legal fees were marital debt and paid to the wife. The court ordered the wife to pay $661 as child support based on imputed income because it found that she was voluntarily unemployed. Child support was retroactive.

The wife was able to obtain a lawyer in Elizabethton who filed an appeal with the Tennessee Court of Appeals.

The wife first argued that the trial court should have granted a continuance. She stated that she was legally blind and an amputee. The appeals court ruled that the lower court acted within its discretion. The lower court had given the wife permission to file a petition and “set the matter for an in person hearing”, but she failed to appear. The appeals court ruled that she forfeited her motion.

The woman also appealed child support and property division.

On property division, the woman failed to include a table listing the entire property in her brief. Since this table is required by the rules, the appeals court held that the argument could not be considered.On the issue of child support, the lower court had based its ruling on the wife’s voluntary unemployment. The appeals court once again ruled that the wife’s brief was not complete enough to make a decision.

According to the appeals court, the lower court did not make sufficient factual findings in order to determine the start date. The appeals court vacated the portion of the order that set the start date and remanded.The appellate court also denied the wife’s request for attorneys’ fees on appeal.

For all these reasons, the Court of Appeals affirmed the case in part, vacated it in part, and sent it back for further findings.