B.O.

DISCUSSION

It is often said that family law departments of the superior court see many of the best people in society at their worst. This is because parties in family law proceedings are often living through some of the most challenging moments of their lives. And nonlawyers who choose to represent themselves on appeal in such a proceeding face a doubly daunting proposition. They confront the stress of their life’s circumstance compounded by the attempt to practice appellate law without training or experience.

3 A. The Briefs and Appellate Record

In this case, Mother appeals because she believes she was wrongly denied a DVRO. Although it is not clear, she may also take issue with certain custody and visitation orders, many of which are not included in the record and were made after her notice of appeal was filed. Her notice designating the appellate record reflects a level of frustration with the fact that, according to her, only one day of the two-day hearing (October 19) had

been transcribed by a court reporter.2 She was defaulted for failure to properly designate the record, had her appeal reinstated, and ultimately filed three different designations over a span of four…