calendars, attorneys and expert witnesses, would leave Baby Doe's future in doubt for months.
For the reasons cited, this court believes the correct decision is to grant the motion to dismiss the Smiths' custody petition, to conclude the dispositional hearing in the neglect case, and to order the foster care agency to file a petition to terminate parental rights as soon as a cause of action ripens. Nevertheless, recognizing the unique set of facts before it, and having found no case directly on point, the court stays the dismissal order until 5:00 p.m. on June 23rd, in order to permit the Smiths to seek appellate review. [1] Petitioners' names are fictitious for purposes of publication. [2] Family Court is not organized to permit trials to be conducted for several consecutive days. No judges are assigned to preside only over trials. Instead the judge's daily calendar includes return of process, discovery and settlement conferences, pretrial hearings and trials — all of which must be scheduled to allow for the regular "intake" assignments for the judge and institutional lawyers at ACS and the Legal Aid Society. Thus, a custody trial would likely be scheduled for two-hour installments over a period of several weeks. Many judges, including the undersigned, are now scheduling "trial time" in September.