When a Summons and Complaint is filed to begin divorce proceedings that does not automatically bring you in front of a judge. If your case is taking the path of not settling outside of court, your attorney would file a Request for Judicial Intervention and a Request for a Preliminary Conference in order to get a judge assigned to your case. Once a judge is assigned, they put you down for a Preliminary Conference which is the first meeting with the judge to review the issues of your case and how your case should proceed forward. Just because you are now in front of a judge does not mean that you no longer can settle outside of court. The opportunity to sit down and settle the issues among yourselves is always recommended and available to you. However, if there are certain issues that cannot be resolved, a judge will proceed with a hearing and make a determination on those issues.