San Jose Restraining Order Attorney

Fight Your Restraining Order

In a Family Law case, the same 911 call that led to a Domestic Violence arrest will often lead to an alleged victim rushing to Family Court to apply for a Domestic Violence Restraining Order, where they will apply for sole physical and legal custody of the minor children as well. But, I have defeated many such applications. Too often today false or exaggerated claims of Domestic Violence are being made in an attempt to gain an unfair advantage in Family Court. With my extensive experience in all areas of Domestic Violence, my clients get a fair hearing, and often the upper hand, as I have litigated hundreds of these cases, I know the law and know how to present my client’s actions in the best light.

When someone is arrested for Domestic Violence, the victim is usually protected with a temporary 5 day no-contact or stay-away order. If the parties’ relationship is over, the party claiming victim status may go to Family Court (located at 201 North First Street) and petition the court for a permanent Domestic Violence Restraining Order.

In a day or two, a Judge will review the petition and often grant a no-contact or stay-away order until an evidentiary hearing is set to evaluate a complaining party’s claims. The problem is, the hearing is usually 3 to 4 weeks in the future and the Judge often denies an alleged offender visitation rights with their own children until the hearing; also, an alleged offender may be removed from their own home as well. This can be a highly disruptive and difficult time to get through. But, do not give up hope, at these hearings I have often obtained orders for immediate visitation for alleged offenders to see their children and will aggressively fight often questionable claims of domestic violence at the hearing.
In truth, the legal burden of proof to obtain a Domestic Violence Restraining Order (“DVRO”) is quite low (i.e., a “preponderance of the evidence” or more likely than not standard). But, there still needs to be real and strong evidence before a Judge will limit contact with a person’s children or remove them from their home.

At the Domestic Violence Restraining Order hearing, more often than not, the parties may negotiate a Non-CLETs restraining order rather than a DVRO. A Non-CLETs order is an agreement between the parties that is not reported to the real-time law enforcement data base and is thus not enforceable by the police.

This negotiated agreement is often done between parties who simply wish to amicably part ways or those who wish to avoid the high cost of a Domestic Violence Restraining order trial.