How might the legal system resolve court dates in a situation like the following?
<p>Adam has a defamation suit against his ex-wife Eve for a lot of money in the United States. Adam also has a contract to perform professionally abroad from months 1 to 4.</p>
<p>The latest court date (in the U.S.) is month 4 but it was originally well before month 1. Adam wants to reschedule so that the court proceedings don't interfere with his contract.</p>
<p>Would a U.S court honor his request, based on his prior commitment? Does the court date give Adam a legal excuse to violate the terms of his contract abroad? Or is Adam caught in a &quot;Catch 22&quot; type situation whereby he will be in contempt of court if he isn't in the United States in month 4 and in breach of contract if he isn't abroad in month 4?</p>

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<p>Would a U.S court honor his request, based on his prior commitment?</p>
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<p>You are not specifying the purpose of the court hearing, or whether Adam is pro se litigant (which sounds unlikely if <a href="https://law.stackexchange.com/revisions/56726/1">this plaintiff is a movie star</a>).</p>
<p>If plaintiff Adam is represented by an attorney, Adam's presence is unnecessary in most or all court hearings. In fact, typically neither parties nor their lawyers <em>have</em> to show up in court, whence their absence does not constitute contempt of court. Absence merely implies that they miss the opportunity to [orally] argue their position before the court, and thus would depend on whether the judge bothers to actually read their brief.</p>
<p>If you mean a hearing in which Adam needs to be present, his request to reschedule the hearing is most likely to be granted. His contract is strong evidence that his request is not a vexatious attempt to delay proceedings. Since the hearing would be in month 4, the particularity that his contract goes up to month 4 implies that rescheduling would not significantly delay proceedings.</p>
<p>Regarding <a href="https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/56726/how-might-the-legal-system-resolve-court-dates-in-a-situation-like-the-following/56730#comment114998_56726">your comment</a>, rescheduling can (and does) happen multiple times even in criminal cases. <a href="http://www.oneclubofjusticides.com/2018/04/felon-carol-kuhnke-seeks-reelection-as.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">This post</a> includes an excerpt of the Register of Actions of criminal case 16-870-FH in Michigan state court (Washtenaw county), highlighting several instances of rescheduling as requested by the defense counsel and <a href="https://www.mlive.com/news/ann-arbor/2018/02/probation_officer_charged_with_4.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">despite prosecutor's objection</a>. I believe the case got rescheduled a few more times beyond what the snapshots reflect.</p>

united-states rules-of-court