Bearden v. Murphy

I concur in all respects with the main opinion’s dismissal of the appeal due to the absence of a final judgment, but I write specially to address two other aspects of the order entered by the trial court on April 25, 2012, that I believe should be noted for the guidance of the trial court.

First, the trial court’s order provides, in pertinent part:

“3. That the parties shall immediately meet and resolve the issues of custody and placement of [the child] and of child support in order to avoid a dismissal of this case.”

Although a trial court may order the parties before it to mediate their…