If the person fails to appear within 14 days of the date the hearing was assigned, it is assumed that they are trying to avoid facing the court's authority. Courts and professionals often call this a “no-show”, but this term can be misleading. In the vast majority of cases, people don't go to court for reasons that should be understandable. There are logistical challenges, such as not being able to miss work, not having transportation to go to court, or not being careful of children.
People may not have recent or updated information about when or where to appear in court. Some may not even know that they had a mandatory court date in the first place. Failure to appear occurs when a person, after being formally notified of a court appointment, fails to appear for the hearing. This can happen for a number of reasons, such as lack of communication, emergencies, or simply forgetfulness.
Regardless of the reason, the court usually considers this absence to be a breach of legal responsibility. People don't go to court for many reasons beyond their control. They can't miss work, they don't have day care centers, or they don't understand court instructions. However, the law and the media routinely view them as fugitives from justice who threaten our communities and improperly severe punishments are imposed on them.
A few days later I called him to let him know that he had not appeared in my court, I told him that I could not trust him with these types of failures and that I no longer needed his services, in addition to requesting a refund of my money. In most cases, the failure to appear in court is due to a mistake (or even stupidity). If you have an attorney, most courts will notify this person (who can go to the judge and try to convince them to withdraw the court order). This strategy is usually successful, but it's best not to miss another one.
