Orders of Protections can be obtained in Family and/or District Court. In Family Court, these are called “O Docket Cases.” They are labeled as family offenses. There are basically two types of Orders of Protection: (1) Stay Away “Orders of Protection;” and (2) Refrain From “Orders of Protection.” Clauses can be added to Orders of Protection, including those directing the parties to attend parenting classes; anger management; and/or directing the parties for counseling treatment, mental health evaluations; substance abuse evaluations; and drug testing.
If you suspect that the Respondent (here, that would be your spouse or the father or mother of your child) is using drugs; has a mental problem; and is committing a family offense such as harassing; threatening or being physical, you should get an Order of Protection. Often people show up at Family Court and attempt to do these by themselves. They are better served by coming to the undersigned firm first; we will prepare the Petition and we will make sure that your statement of facts is expertly written, so that it will be clear to the Judge why you need the Order of Protection that you are seeking. We will not embellish, however, we will present your facts in the manner in which they should be presented to get you the Order of Protection that you need. Most often, when people show up at Family Court, they simply complain to a clerk who writes down the facts that they are given, and usually the client does not have enough time to go over all of the facts, and the clerk does not have the skills to present the facts in a manner that would highlight to the Judge the urgency of the Order of Protection.
Conversely, we are well-versed in beating Orders of Protection. Orders of Protection have been misused and overused. Indeed, family law practitioners often joke how Orders of Protections are given out “like candy,” and/or it has been said that there should be a “drive through window” in Family Court for Orders of Protection. This is because none of the Judges want to be questioned by Channel 12 news after they deny an Order of Protection and someone gets hurt. Therefore, a lot of the Family Court Judges play “better safe than sorry,” causing extreme hardship -- financial, emotional and otherwise -- to people as a result of false allegations or overreaching statements in Orders of Protection. If you think that you were served with an Order of Protection and that you should not have been asked to stay away from your house or refrain from communicating with your spouse or children, contact us immediately.
It behooves you to show up at the first appearance with an attorney. If you are trying to impress the Court with your responsible nature, and if you would like the Judge to hear your side of the story, it behooves you to bring an attorney. We are very successful in Orders of Protection, cases and we are in Court handling Orders of Protection each and every day. Contact us immediately if you need an attorney for an Order of Protection matter.
