Durden & Mills, PC | Georgia Trial Lawyers | Georgia Family Law Attorney | Georgia Criminal Lawyer

If domestic violence has entered your life, please know that you options to seek protection. If you have been the subject of harassment, stalking or spousal abuse and need assistance to obtain a protective order from an aggressive, yet sympathetic law firm, we are here for you. We are Durden & Mills, PC are prepared to provide you with swift, thorough and responsive protective order representation. Whether it is a Family Violence Protective Order or a StalkingProtective Order, we want you to be safe. If you want to discuss the possibility of filing for a Protective Order, please contact our law offices immediately.

Swift, Thorough and Responsive Protective Order Representation

As soon as possible following our initial contact, we can seek an Ex-Parte Protective Order. After the Ex-Parte Protective Order, the offending party will be restrained from having any inappropriate contact with you until the full hearing can be scheduled.Then, our experienced, caring lawyers will represent you at the full hearing to obtain a Twelve Month Protective Order.

Defense Against Protective Orders

A Protective Order is a civil proceeding in which a person seeks to have a court issue an order for protection aginst family violence or stalking. The Protective Order procedure in Georgia is complex and happens quickly. Therefore, if you are defending a Protective Order you likely need an attorney and you need one quickly. An attorney can get extensions of time to prepare for the final hearing, can take depositions and obtain witnesses who are favorable to you. Additionally, an experienced protective order defense attorney can discredit witnesses, find inconsistencies in stories, and thoroughly cross-examine witnesses.

However, most important of all, our attorneys are often able to get the petitions themselves dismissed. In fact, we have been able to get a surprisingly large percent of the petitions against our clients dismissed because of fatal flaws in the petitions. A party in civil litigation who is represented by an attorney has a significant advantage over the non-represented party.

DO NOT GO TO COURT ALONE. WE CAN HELP!

What happens if an injunction is enforced against a person?

Loss of Your Rights

If a final Protective Order is granted against you in Georgia, serious consequences can result including the following:

It will show up on your criminal record background check. Despite the fact that a protective order is a civil proceeding, it will be on your background check and can be seen by potential employers, landlords, scholarships, or an organization, including youth sports leagues that reqview your criminal record.
The Protective Order is enforceable nationwide.
In most cases, you will not be able to buy a firearm or weapon, and you would be required to surrender any firearms or weapons you own or are located in your residence.
The court can compel you to move from your house is you live with the person who is seeking the Protective Order.
You may be prevented from having unsupervised visitation or in some cases any contact with your children for the duration of the Protective Order.
If the petitioner is a co-worker you could lose your job or be forced to get another job.
The court may on its own award child support without a full hearing on the matter.
Further contact after the Protective Order is entered can result in arrest for offenses ranging from violation of a protective order, stalking, or aggravated stalking which is a felony.
If you have a professional license, you may be required to report the entry of the Protective Order and you may face discipline depending on the allegations of the petition.
If you are a member of the military you can be confined to quarters while not on duty, be kicked out of military housing, or suffer other adverse consequences.
If you are not a citizen of the United States, you could be deported or prevented from getting citizenship.

The effects of an Protective Order being entered against you go far beyond simply not being able to be near the person who filed the petition. A Protective Order can change your ability to see or have relationships with your spouse, boyfriend/girlfriend, children, family, friends, and neighbors. Unlike in a criminal proceeding, you do not have a right to have an attorney in a Protective Order proceeding. However, representing yourself puts you at a huge disadvantage, while being the only one with a lawyer may tilt the balance of power in your favor. Let our experienced Protective Order defense attorneys help you defend against a temporary or permanent protective order proceeding. Contact us today.

More Than Forty Years of Combined Experience on Your Side

If you either need to file for a protective order or have been served with a protective order filed against you and you would like to discuss your options, please call (706) 543-4708 or contact the North Georgia law firm of Durden & Mills, PC. We look forward to helping you solve your legal problems.