Matrimonial Case Study: Legal Procedures and Evidence Collection

This assignment presents a detailed case study involving a matrimonial dispute, where a lawyer is consulted by a woman suspecting her husband of infidelity. The assignment outlines the initial steps a lawyer must take, including gathering crucial documents and information about the husband. It then provides a practical exercise where the student observes and documents the behavior of an acquaintance, simulating investigative work. The assignment also delves into the technical aspects of surveillance, specifically focusing on the use of cameras for gathering photographic evidence, discussing camera types, lenses, and films best suited for different scenarios. The student is advised on best practices for capturing effective evidence, including the importance of practicing and adapting to various conditions. The document concludes with a bibliography of relevant sources.

Running head: MATRIMONIAL CASE
Matrimonial Case
Name of the student
Name of the university
Author note

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MATRIMONIAL CASE
Question 1
A married woman named Mrs. Atkinson approaches a lawyer named Mr. Cage. Mrs. Atkinson
suspects that her husband named Mr. Atkinson is cheating on her. She suspects this because he
has been returning home late every night from work. Mr. Atkinson works as a Project Manager
at a firm named Netscribes that primarily deals with E-commerce. When Mrs. Atkinson
confronted her husband about his late arrivals every night from work, he was simply stated that
he was trying to clear some back-logs at work.
As this is the beginning of a legal consultation in respect of a matrimonial case, it is the duty of
Mr. Cage to obtain the following documents from Mrs. Atkinson:
 a clear and distinct description of her husband which includes his regular attire and any
characteristics or marks that set him apart from others,
 a prominent photograph of her husband that is also recent,
 his work address,
 a detailed description of his car,
 knowledge in respect of the places that he visits regularly (e.g. clubs or pubs), and
 details of the individual with whom her husband is having an affair in her suspicion.1
Provided that Mrs. Atkinson hands over all the above-mentioned documents to Mr. Cage, the
procedure can move forward.2 These are the documents that must absolutely be obtained and
1 Mosten, F. S. (1994). Unbundling of legal services and the family lawyer. Family Law Quarterly, 421-449.
2 Cunningham, C. D. (1998). Evaluating Effective Lawyer-Client Communication: An International Project Moving
from Research to Reform. Fordham L. Rev., 67, 1959.

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retained by Mr. Cage. It must be mentioned at this instance that a lawyer may ask a diverse range
of other questions at the initial consultation of a matrimonial case.3 These may include:
 inquiring about the basic background of the husband,
 if he has had any affair in the past, and
 whether Mrs. Atkinson has ever suspected her husband of having an affair in the past and
if yes, the conclusion such previous suspicion came to.4
Question 2
For the purpose of this part of the assignment, I observed an acquaintance for a few hours. The
following is my report on their behavior and movements:
28th August, Monday
 10 am: Discreetly followed subject to the company he works in names Jeremy and
Reynolds Accounting Company, 20, Sunder Street, Brisbane. Discovered the car that he
drives, a Grey BMW E-class at the car park of the firm.
 10.20 am: Subject enters his office after a brief phone call right outside office. The
conversation was unintelligible from a distance. However, it seemed to be a client as the
words, “audit”,” slowdown” and “cut-backs” were repeated a few times.
3 Tesler, P. H. (2008). Collaborative Family Law, the New Lawyer, and Deep Resolution of Divorce-Related
Conflicts. J. Disp. Resol., 83.
4 Gonczi, A. (1994). Competency based assessment in the professions in Australia. Assessment in Education:
Principles, Policy & Practice, 1(1), 27-44.

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MATRIMONIAL CASE
 11.00 am: The subject comes out of the office and proceeds towards his car while having
a conversation with someone on the phone. Seemed to be a friend as I overheard him
asking about the other person’s health. He proceeds to his car and drives away.
 11.20 am: He drives to a nearby restaurant and orders a caffe latte. He waits there for
about 10 minutes when another gentleman approached him and they greeted each other.
Thereafter they sat down and started discussing business. I overheard the words
“merger”, “bankrupt” and “insolvent”. These words essentially direct towards the
establishment of the fact that the other gentleman was either a client of the subject or the
company he works in or a prospective client thereof.
 11.40 am: The other gentleman left the restaurant. The subject paid the bill and walked
towards his car while dialing a number. By the time the call connected he was already
well-seated in his car and drove back to his office.
Question 3
A thorough research into the kind of camera that is best suited for surveillance purposes and
gathering photographic evidence resulted in the following conclusions:
 A standard SLR (single reflex lens) camera is essential to capture clear photographs from
a distance. However, in case Mr. Cage does not know how to operate such a camera he
should learn how to use it by looking up tutorials online or getting enrolled for a course
in that respect. The camera must allow Mr. Cage to control its focal length, aperture
width, shutter speed and so on.5 Automatic cameras must be avoided at all costs as they
5 Clarke, T. A., & Fryer, J. G. (1998). The development of camera calibration methods and models. The
Photogrammetric Record, 16(91), 51-66.

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do not allow you to control these features. If an automatic camera comes with a manual
over-ride feature, then it can be effectively used for investigation work.
 Telephoto lenses must be used to capture the relevant pictures as these lenses have the
ability to magnify the images and thereby make it appear nearer.6 Zoom lenses may also
be used but it must be taken into account that such lenses do not let a large amount of
light to get to the film.
 A fast (highly light-sensitive) film must be used for night-time and interior photography.
These films woks competently even without flash. 7
 Mr. Cage must practice clicking images with an SLR camera, telephoto lens and a fast
film. It’s best for him if he clicks images at unusual areas and diverse conditions, e.g.,
outside and inside clubs and pubs, in multi-storey car parks, in shopping centers and at
night, and so on. This will allow him to understand how to work the cameras exposure
under diverse circumstances. This practice shall help Mr. Cage to gain knowledge in
relation to how the camera works best.
 If Mr. Cage uses a film that is not appropriate for the conditions, he must forward that
knowledge to the lab when sending the film for processing. They might be able to
improve the clarity of the pictures by processing them differently.
 Mr. Cage may well follow Mr. Atkinson by and take relevant pictures discreetly by
taking an acquaintance along. This way, Mr. Cage may well pretend to be taking a
6 Bennett, A. G., Rudnicka, A. R., & Edgar, D. F. (1994). Improvements on Littmann's method of determining the
size of retinal features by fundus photography. Graefe's archive for clinical and experimental
ophthalmology, 232(6), 361-367.
7 Banks, M. (1998). Visual anthropology: Image, object and interpretation. Image-based research: A sourcebook for
qualitative researchers, 9-23.

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“holiday picture” while actually gathering evidence for the case in full view of the
camera.
 Photographs taken using electronic cameras are easily edited and amended nowadays and
may not be by the court as evidence.

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MATRIMONIAL CASE
Bibliography
Banks, M. (1998). Visual anthropology: Image, object and interpretation. Image-based research:
A sourcebook for qualitative researchers, 9-23.
Bennett, A. G., Rudnicka, A. R., & Edgar, D. F. (1994). Improvements on Littmann's method of
determining the size of retinal features by fundus photography. Graefe's archive for clinical and
experimental ophthalmology, 232(6), 361-367.
Clarke, T. A., & Fryer, J. G. (1998). The development of camera calibration methods and
models. The Photogrammetric Record, 16(91), 51-66.
Cunningham, C. D. (1998). Evaluating Effective Lawyer-Client Communication: An
International Project Moving from Research to Reform. Fordham L. Rev., 67, 1959.
Gonczi, A. (1994). Competency based assessment in the professions in Australia. Assessment in
Education: Principles, Policy & Practice, 1(1), 27-44.
Mosten, F. S. (1994). Unbundling of legal services and the family lawyer. Family Law
Quarterly, 421-449.
Tesler, P. H. (2008). Collaborative Family Law, the New Lawyer, and Deep Resolution of
Divorce-Related Conflicts. J. Disp. Resol., 83.