Protective orders
Protective orders, with your safety first
If you are in danger right now, call 911. If someone may be watching what you do online, use the Quick exit button at the top of the page, and call us from a phone they can't check.
An order of protection is a court order telling someone to stay away from you, your home, your work or your children. You can ask for one on your own, often the same day. We help when the situation is complicated, when there's a hearing, or when children and a divorce are part of it.
We also represent people who have been served with an order and want to be heard. Both sides deserve a lawyer who explains the hearing and what an order would change.
Reaching you safely
Tell us the safest way to contact you: a time to call, a phone that's yours alone, or whether we can leave a message. We'll follow it every time.
How we help
Four ways we take these cases
Asking for an order
We help you write the petition, gather what supports it and file it.
The hearing
If the other person asks for a hearing, we prepare you and stand beside you in court.
Answering an order
If an order was served on you, we explain it, help you follow it and present your side.
Orders and children
We connect the order to custody and parenting time, so the two don't contradict each other.
Questions
Questions about orders
Does an order cost anything to request?
Courts don't charge a filing fee to ask for an order of protection. Our fees are separate, and we'll tell you what they'll be before we start.
What if the other person breaks the order?
Call 911. Breaking an order of protection can be a crime. Then tell us, so we can raise it in any custody or divorce case.
Will the other person see what I wrote?
Yes. They're served with a copy of the petition. We'll help you write it carefully and leave out your new address if they don't know it.
Can an order affect custody?
Yes. An order can limit contact with the children for a time, and courts consider family violence in custody decisions. We handle both together.
Talk to us when it's safe
Call from a phone that's yours, or send only your name and a safe number. We'll call you back the way you ask.
Please don't send confidential details through the website. We'll go over them when we talk.