I represented a female client with two minor children in an abuse hearing against the children’s father. The Court awarded her a temporary Restraining Order based on my complaint, and we appeared in Court to defend her request for a permanent Restraining Order.
We successfully negotiated an agreement with the father to provide my client with all the protection she wanted while allowing the father to walk out of court without an official finding of abuse against him. Both parties were satisfied with the results.
The father goes to counseling and will earn the right to restore his normal rights to visitation with the children as he proves he no longer poses a threat to their safety and well-being. The children win too, with an opportunity to grow up with both parents active in their lives.
At the Law Office of William T. Bly we prefer to engage the parties in a spirited negotiation rather than an acrimonious court hearing. People obey agreements they have a hand in negotiating more than they obey an order handed down by a Judge who is a stranger to the parties and their family. Our clients feel as if the justice system has served them personally rather than having gone through a numbing, scary public court hearing.
Negotiated agreements prevent a public airing of the parties’ dirty laundry, where a moment of angry accusations can ruin an otherwise salvageable relationship forever.
Of course, if our opposing party wants to become strident and accusatory, we are more than happy to meet that opponent head-on with the full force of the law and our full attention to our arsenal of tools and experience. If a fight is required, we will fight.
