![John Zurzola partner with Weber Gallagher Simpson Stapleton Fires & Newby. Courtesy photo](http://images.law.com/contrib/content/uploads/sites/402/2022/01/John-Zurzola-767x633.jpg)
Pennsylvania Emergency Child Custody: What Is an Emergency Anyway?
The attorney's decision to characterize a set of facts as an emergency and to seek emergency relief for the client may have strategic value to an ongoing case and may provide substantive or (more likely) procedural benefits to the case.
December 01, 2022 at 12:32 PM
7 minute read
Few things in family law (in child custody specifically) appear so straightforward to clients and so unclear to their attorneys as does emergency child custody. It is easy to quip that, "to a client in a custody battle, everything is an emergency." However, the very question of "what constitutes an emergency?" may have consequences on numerous aspects of a child custody case. The attorney's interpretation of a set of facts as a nonemergency may affect the attorney's relationship with a client who is looking for an attorney to "fight for them." The frequency of a particular practice or attorney filing emergency petition after emergency petition could have an effect on the attorney's reputation with judges and with their staffs. More importantly, the attorney's decision to characterize a set of facts as an emergency and to seek emergency relief for the client may have strategic value to an ongoing case and may provide substantive or (more likely) procedural benefits to the case. It could also act in the opposite and wind up being the filing "that cried wolf." In counties that have adopted or that strive for "One Judge One Family," you don't want to file a specious emergency petition to appease the client and allow themselves to damage their own case from the get-go.
Let's start by attempting to answer the most obvious question, "What is an emergency?" You may be surprised to learn that there is not only no definition in the code, but in the whole of Chapter 53 the word "emergency" never actually appears. In the procedural rules pertaining to custody, Chapter 1915 only makes passing reference to an "emergency" when considering the appropriate venue and then makes refence to emergency jurisdiction found in UCCJEA.
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
You Might Like
View All![Superior Court Re-examines Death of a Party Pending a Divorce Action Superior Court Re-examines Death of a Party Pending a Divorce Action](https://images.law.com/cdn-cgi/image/format=auto,fit=contain/https://images.law.com/thelegalintelligencer/contrib/content/uploads/sites/402/2022/12/Michael-Bertin-767x633.jpg)
Superior Court Re-examines Death of a Party Pending a Divorce Action
6 minute read![The Use of Psychologists as Coaches/Trial Consultants The Use of Psychologists as Coaches/Trial Consultants](https://images.law.com/cdn-cgi/image/format=auto,fit=contain/https://images.law.com/thelegalintelligencer/contrib/content/uploads/sites/403/2023/09/Reiter-Elisa-Pollack-Daniel-767x633.jpg)
![Legal Nuances of Child Sexual Experimentation vs. Grooming Legal Nuances of Child Sexual Experimentation vs. Grooming](https://images.law.com/cdn-cgi/image/format=auto,fit=contain/https://images.law.com/thelegalintelligencer/contrib/content/uploads/sites/389/2023/09/Weiss-Pollack-767x633.jpg)
![Defendant in Protection From Abuse Case Has Standing to File for Contempt Defendant in Protection From Abuse Case Has Standing to File for Contempt](https://images.law.com/cdn-cgi/image/format=auto,fit=contain/https://images.law.com/thelegalintelligencer/contrib/content/uploads/sites/402/2022/12/Michael-Bertin-767x633.jpg)
Defendant in Protection From Abuse Case Has Standing to File for Contempt
6 minute readLaw Firms Mentioned
Trending Stories
- 1States Accuse Trump of Thwarting Court's Funding Restoration Order
- 2Microsoft Becomes Latest Tech Company to Face Claims of Stealing Marketing Commissions From Influencers
- 3Coral Gables Attorney Busted for Stalking Lawyer
- 4Trump's DOJ Delays Releasing Jan. 6 FBI Agents List Under Consent Order
- 5Securities Report Says That 2024 Settlements Passed a Total of $5.2B
Who Got The Work
J. Brugh Lower of Gibbons has entered an appearance for industrial equipment supplier Devco Corporation in a pending trademark infringement lawsuit. The suit, accusing the defendant of selling knock-off Graco products, was filed Dec. 18 in New Jersey District Court by Rivkin Radler on behalf of Graco Inc. and Graco Minnesota. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Zahid N. Quraishi, is 3:24-cv-11294, Graco Inc. et al v. Devco Corporation.
Who Got The Work
Rebecca Maller-Stein and Kent A. Yalowitz of Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer have entered their appearances for Hanaco Venture Capital and its executives, Lior Prosor and David Frankel, in a pending securities lawsuit. The action, filed on Dec. 24 in New York Southern District Court by Zell, Aron & Co. on behalf of Goldeneye Advisors, accuses the defendants of negligently and fraudulently managing the plaintiff's $1 million investment. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Vernon S. Broderick, is 1:24-cv-09918, Goldeneye Advisors, LLC v. Hanaco Venture Capital, Ltd. et al.
Who Got The Work
Attorneys from A&O Shearman has stepped in as defense counsel for Toronto-Dominion Bank and other defendants in a pending securities class action. The suit, filed Dec. 11 in New York Southern District Court by Bleichmar Fonti & Auld, accuses the defendants of concealing the bank's 'pervasive' deficiencies in regards to its compliance with the Bank Secrecy Act and the quality of its anti-money laundering controls. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian, is 1:24-cv-09445, Gonzalez v. The Toronto-Dominion Bank et al.
Who Got The Work
Crown Castle International, a Pennsylvania company providing shared communications infrastructure, has turned to Luke D. Wolf of Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani to fend off a pending breach-of-contract lawsuit. The court action, filed Nov. 25 in Michigan Eastern District Court by Hooper Hathaway PC on behalf of The Town Residences LLC, accuses Crown Castle of failing to transfer approximately $30,000 in utility payments from T-Mobile in breach of a roof-top lease and assignment agreement. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Susan K. Declercq, is 2:24-cv-13131, The Town Residences LLC v. T-Mobile US, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Wilfred P. Coronato and Daniel M. Schwartz of McCarter & English have stepped in as defense counsel to Electrolux Home Products Inc. in a pending product liability lawsuit. The court action, filed Nov. 26 in New York Eastern District Court by Poulos Lopiccolo PC and Nagel Rice LLP on behalf of David Stern, alleges that the defendant's refrigerators’ drawers and shelving repeatedly break and fall apart within months after purchase. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Joan M. Azrack, is 2:24-cv-08204, Stern v. Electrolux Home Products, Inc.