What is finding of facts and conclusions of law. Respondent filed for this. Why would they need to?

Requests for "findings" are usually made when one expects a case to be appealed.  An appeal is a request to the Court of Appeals to issue an opinion based upon errors of law and/or erroneous findings of a Court.  Therefore, the Court of Appeals does not reweigh evidence - it looks to the Orders of the trial court to see if there are any errors of law or fact that would warrant a chnage to those Orders. The request for Findings means that the Judge will issue more specific orders, taking more time to explain their decisions based upon the evidence.  If no such request is made, a Judge usually issues a more general order with less detailed explanations or references to statutes and case law, although a Judge may choose to issue those detailed Orders even if no one asks for Findings.   If you are represented by an attorney it is important to discuss with them what findings you are going to request be made.  The Judge usually requests each party submit Proposed Findings a specific amount of days after the conclusion of evidence, so it is important to start this work before the trial in order to make sure you have the proposal you wish to submit ready on time.  It is also important to take really good notes during the trial so you can properly refer to evidence presented at the hearing in your Proposed Findings.