Jill Deborah Dorancy

As a judge with going on 5 years of family court, after years fighting for Oil & Gas companies while also being on their committees, you'd think she may learn a thing or two about domestic abusers and how they function in court. Or not, but maybe that's what a background in O&G can do to you. I w...ent through almost the same experience as the last reviewer, and felt like she failed to recognize the abuse in the relationship despite police documents (i.e. "hearsay") and a criminal conviction. She allowed my abuser to perjure himself and use abusive litigation tactics to tear me down to the core, while I was already dealing with severe domestic assault trauma. This experience contributed to the PTSD I was already dealing with. This judge seemed biased against me from the very beginning and perpetuated the perjury that my now ex-husband concocted for 9 months longer than necessary, only to allow him to withdraw, for no reason, his perjury/lie less than 2 weeks before our full-day divorce trial (mind you, I got assaulted by my ex on my wedding night 9 months before). Not only that, he was let off early by the Court that convicted him, unbeknownst to me, and Judge Dorancy wouldn't even give me the Permanent Protection Order I needed (after 3 attempts to service him) - which I should have had still thhrough the criminal courts, had the system not let him off early without notifying the victim and getting their input. This "law-abiding" judge does not factor into accounts of abuse, substance abuse, sexual abuse (I was unknowingly exposed to Hep B for 8 years), psychological abuse or other contributing factors/conditions, point blank. In other words, she lacks trauma awareness. For her to be in this court of law is an injustice to all victims of domestic violence and narcissist abuse. She just doesn't see it or is predisposed to it. Although she is black (which I applaud because we need more diversity in this area), she doesn't seem to consider mental health conditions, often caused by the abuser, in her judicial functioning and decision-making. I felt discriminated by her for my mental conditions that I don't even have a choice in the matter. That my ex also contributed to significantly. To put it lightly, I felt discriminated against from the very start while they ignored common civil procedures that I knew nothing in my trauma/continued-trauma state and used my mental health against me when I asked for additional help. From my experience, she is unqualified to make decisions in the best interests of the people and not her pockets, own interests/views, or the behind-the-scenes games we know get played especially when there are high dollars are at stake. History runs deep. If I had this judge, I would ask for another (which I did, and was denied). You are in your own best interest. Judge Dorancy seems very biased towards a lot of things including lawyers she claims to have never worked with although the relationship seems very "chummy" whose motions are accepted in short order (while mine are denied or delayed). If you can change judges on your divorce matters, they never said it didn't hurt to try. TL/DR: Hire a powerful attorney with this judge and don't try to self-represent. She does not have your best interests at heart and barely cares to hear your story and apply compassion while maintaining her judicial obligations. You need someone else to challenge her back; she does not respect pro-se litigation.