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Would like to switch judge for my Illinois foreclosure case I've been unsuccessful finding the proper form on the Circuit Court of Cook County website. Question 1. Anyone know where else I could locate this or who could provide the form for me in your reply? Question 2. I believe I may have been misguided by a volunteer attorney in filling out my "motion to appear and answer form". My understanding is now that if I write anything but "Deny" on this form, it automatically puts me in a position to receive a judgment. Is this correct? 3. A judgment has not yet been placed against me. I'm under the impression that I must submit the Switch of Judge form prior to the judgment. Otherwise, that option will no longer be available to me. Is this correct? If this is correct I would greatly appreciate anyone who could quickly direct me to this SOJ form so I can submit it promptly. Thank you!

I filed chapter 7 pro se and went to the meeting of creditors last week. It went smoothly. Then, I had to go to a hearing about two items: 1) my request to have the filing fee waived (judge ordered me to pay 100 in 4 installments, so that's not too bad at all!) 2) approval of a reaffirmation agreement between myself and a finance company who had made a small loan to me with my 2002 accord as collateral. So, that's where my question comes in. The creditor was fine reaffirming. They took my principal + interest (VERY high interest rate) and rolled it into the new principal and called it a 0% interest reaffirmation agreement. The judge asked me about it and I said that the interest was included in the new principal. So, he ordered a show cause hearing to find out why the finance company did this. The hearing is next week, and I just have two quick questions for anyone who's familiar with this process at all: 1) will I need to go? I planned to go because I want to be on the safe side, but I'm not sure what's expected of me and I want to be prepared. 2) what is likely to happen? Is this happening because the judge plans to order a new agreement with the interest changed? Will I be in danger of losing my car? I didn't ming paying the interest, honestly. The loan wasn't much, so the interest, while very high, didn't amount to a whole lot extra per month, and I just want all of this mess behind me. I only filed because I was getting sued and having trouble keeping up with answering and trying to fight all the lawsuits, and a default judgment had just been ordered and I absolutely cannot afford a garnishment and didn't want to risk trying to file more answers or appeals to stave off what seemed to be an inevitable loss anyway. My score has gone up by over 100 points now, though I know that doesn't necessarily mean anything, and I have 0 desire to get any lines of credit any time soon. I'm gonna just live lean from now on! Any advice or experience you can offer about the show cause situation would be very helpful. Thanks so much!

I'm in Macomb County, Michigan, I'm being sued by Portfolio Recovery for the amount of $716.28. Summons and Complaint was issued 6/2/15. I answered their complaint, I mentioned that their affidavit was made more than ten days before the complaint was filed and I also stated in my Affirmative Defenses that I there is an Arbitration clause in the agreement (that I provided because Portfolio Rec doesn't have it) and that I seek to choose arbitration. I don't know how much weight Affirmative Defenses hold but the judge seemed to ignore it as it continued on to Pre-trial (Dec.3rd 2015). I then filed a Motion to Dismiss, or in the alternative, stay case and compel arbitration. However, I forgot when the pre-trial date was and submitted the motion only a few days before the pre-trial. The plaintiffs lawyer made very little attempt to negotiate a deal, instead she had a very rude and demeaning attitude, apparently she didn't even know that I filed for the motion (which I did send a copy to the plaintiffs law firm a few days before I even submitted it to the court) and that seemed to have made her angry or something. Nevertheless, at the pre-trial, the judge mentioned that he looked at my motion. The plaintiffs lawyer said that what I (the defendant) was doing is just common tactics to buy time and based on her experience I'm not going to file for arbitration. The judge asked her if she wanted to adjourn and she said no, he then denied the motion saying that we will see if he (The defendant) files for arbitration and if not then it will come back to court. That is where we stand now, the pre-trial was yesterday (Dec.3rd), and I'm pretty confused right now. I didn't expect the judge to dismiss my motion as the combination of their affidavit being expired and the arbitration clause in the agreement basically throws their argument out the window. My main questions and concerns are, how (at this point in the case) do I file for arbitration and who do I notify and how do I notify them? I've read many posts on how to initial arbitration but my situation seems a little different and I want to make sure I'm doing it correctly. Also, my concern is that if the plaintiffs lawyer send a summary disposition at this point, do I have to answer it or does that mean I am forfeiting my right to arbitration? Any help at all will be greatly appreciated, I'm really a tadpole in a lake when it comes to law, I'm just learning as I go basically. -- Abe

Judge Beats Up Public Defender A fight between a judge and a public defender broke out in a courtroom in Brevard County Florida on Monday. Judge John Murphy was allegedly trying to get public defender Andrew Weinstock to waive his client’s right to a speedy trial. Video footage shows Murphy telling Weinstock, “You know, if I had a rock I would throw it at you right now. Stop pissing me off. Just sit down.” Weinstock responds, “You know I’m the public defender. I have a right to be here and I have a right to stand and represent my client.” Murphy then invites Weinstock to go out to a hallway in the back so they could settle their dispute with fists. Murphy is heard saying, “If you want to fight, let’s go out back and I’ll just beat your a$$.” Full Story and Video: http://abovethelaw.com/2014/06/judge-beats-up-public-defender/