Opinion ID: 2068906
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Direction to Counsel to Prepare Order

Text: [¶ 22] Edward also complains that the court erred in directing counsel for Betsy to prepare the divorce judgment at the conclusion of the proceedings. Such a direction to one party to prepare an order after the court has stated its findings and conclusions either orally or in writing is a common and necessary practice in nonjury proceedings because of limitations on judges' time and staff support. At the conclusion of the proceedings, a trial court may direct a party to draft an order for the court based on the court's stated findings and conclusions. Jarvis v. Jarvis, 2003 ME 53, ¶ 14 n. 1, 832 A.2d 775, 778-79. [¶ 23] After the close of the evidence in this case, the District Court requested that the parties submit to it arguments on the merits of the evidence, a list of marital property requested by each party, and what specific findings each party was asking for with regard to the issues before the court. The court explicitly asked that the parties not make their submissions to the court in the form of a proposed judgment. [¶ 24] The parties' submissions to the court after the close of the evidence that supported the court's deliberations leading to its memorandum of decision were not part of the record forwarded to this Court. However, review of the court's memorandum of decision, and the extensive proceedings subsequent to it, demonstrate that that memorandum of decision was most certainly the result of the court's exercise of independent judicial judgment. Both parties filed objections to the memorandum of decision, and the court made changes and clarifications prior to the preparation and issuance of its final divorce judgment. That judgment represents the independent judicial decision-making of the court after it appropriately directed a party, here Betsy Wandishin, to prepare a draft judgment in accordance with the court's prior direction. There was no error in the judgment preparation practice demonstrated here. The entry is: Judgment affirmed.