Parish v. Parish, A-1837-08T2; Appellate Division; opinion by Lihotz, J.A.D.; partial dissent by Ashrafi, J.A.D.; decided and approved for publication February 3, 2010. Before Judges Parrillo, Lihotz and Ashrafi. On appeal from the Chancery Division, Family Part, Morris County, FM-14-1622-07. DDS No. 20-2-6710 [52 pp.]
Plaintiff William J. Parish Jr. filed his first and only motion to enforce litigant’s rights (ELR) to compel defendant Hannah Parish to comply with court-ordered parenting time, including telephone contact with the children. The judge did not review the merits of the application, concluding the motion was moot. Despite that conclusion, the court directed the parties to present their disputes to the parenting coordinator designated in the dual final judgment of divorce. The judge also conditioned the filing of any future motions, including enforcement actions, on the parties and their attorneys first conducting a four-way settlement conference to resolve the disputes and certifying their efforts proved unsuccessful. The court also ordered plaintiff to pay $500 toward defendant’s counsel fees and costs.
