Lawyer Referral/Do I need a lawyer?

In general, the court system is supposed to be available to anyone, with or without a lawyer. Restraining order proceedings, especially, are supposed to be geared towards a victim of abuse filing on his/her own since by the very nature of a restraining order, it is something that is often needed immediately and the victim cannot wait for a lawyer to help. Therefore, a lawyer is not needed to file for a restraining order. However, it can often be beneficial to have a lawyer at future court dates - especially if the respondent is not going to consent to the order being issued against him/her and the case is set down for a hearing (trial). At a hearing or trial, there are specific laws that a lawyer would know about regarding the “rules of evidence,” which dictate what type of evidence and testimony can be used in a court hearing, and the lawyer may be needed to cross-examine the respondent and to present witnesses. Also, a person may be at a disadvantage without a lawyer if the other party has a lawyer since it is often intimidating to speak in court against another lawyer. If you decide to look for a lawyer, here are legal organizations that may have free or low-cost lawyers if you qualify: LINK

If you end up representing yourself, here is some information on our website that can be helpful to anyone who is pro se in court and here is information about protective orders in STATE that I hope is useful. [HYPERLINK]