Being served with a restraining order does not make you guilty of anything. It does mean a judge has already heard one side of the story, and you have a short window to answer it.
Our Glendale restraining order attorney at Hurwitz Law Group defends people accused of abuse, harassment, stalking, or threats. These orders can strip away your firearms, your home, and your time with your children. Missing the hearing date on your paperwork hands the other side everything they asked for. Call (323) 244-4147 for a free case evaluation.
Restraining order cases move faster than most people expect. You may have two or three weeks between the day you are served and the day a judge decides whether to make the order last up to 5 years.
Our team uses that window. We gather the text messages, call logs, photos, and witness accounts that the request left out, and we build a response that gives the judge the full picture instead of half of it.
We also watch for the trap most people walk into. A restraining order request frequently arrives alongside a criminal investigation or an open case, and anything you file in the civil matter can be used against you in the criminal one. Our attorneys handle both sides of that problem at the same firm.
Hurwitz Law Group has practiced criminal defense in Los Angeles County courtrooms for over a decade. Appearing regularly in front of the same judges teaches you what a particular courtroom finds persuasive and what it does not.
Restraining order hearings reward that kind of preparation. They are short, they are evidence-driven, and the judge is weighing two accounts against each other with limited time to sort them out.
We offer payment plans, we take calls 24/7, and se habla español. Your first conversation with our team costs nothing and stays confidential.
California courts issue several types of restraining orders, and the type filed against you determines who can request it, what the other side has to prove, and what the order can take from you. Knowing which one you are responding to shapes the entire defense.
These apply when the person requesting protection is a spouse, an ex, a dating partner, a co-parent, or a close relative. A domestic violence restraining order can include stay-away terms, move-out orders, and child custody and visitation orders. A judge can grant one for up to 5 years.
When there is no close relationship, the request falls under civil harassment. Neighbors, coworkers, roommates, and extended family members use this route. The court can issue a temporary order the same day the request is filed or by the next business day.
Filed when the protected person is 65 or older, or is a dependent adult. Caretakers and adult children are common respondents. These cases often grow out of family disputes over money, property, or care decisions, and the accusations can involve neglect or financial abuse rather than violence.
An employer, not the employee, files these to protect a worker. Being named in one can end your employment and follow you into background checks. Because a company brings the request, you may face an employer's attorney and its internal records on the other side.
The process usually starts before you know about it. The other side files a request, and a judge reviews it without you present.
If the judge grants temporary protection, you are bound by that order the moment you are served, even though you have not had a chance to say a word. You must obey it while you disagree with it.
Your paperwork will list a court date. For domestic violence matters, that date appears on Form DV-109. Restraining order hearings for Glendale, La Cañada Flintridge, La Crescenta, and Montrose are heard at the Glendale Courthouse at 600 East Broadway.
You can file a written response using form DV-120. Responding in writing is optional and carries no penalty if you skip it, but that decision deserves real thought rather than a guess.
Here is why. Anything you put in those papers can be used against you in a criminal case, and restraining order requests often run parallel to criminal charges.
Showing up is not optional. If you do not appear at the hearing, the judge can grant the full order without hearing anything from you.
At the hearing itself, both sides present evidence and testimony. The person who requested the order goes first, and you have the opportunity to respond, submit your own evidence, and question their account.
The judge then decides whether to deny the request, grant it as filed, or grant it with modified terms. That ruling can bind you for years, which is why the preparation that happens beforehand matters more than anything said in the courtroom.
People tend to focus on the stay-away terms and miss the rest. The collateral damage is usually what changes a person's life.
Firearms. Once an order is in place against you, you cannot own or possess firearms or ammunition. You must turn them in to law enforcement or a licensed dealer within 24 hours of being served and file Form DV-800 proving you complied. Handing them to a friend or relative is not allowed.
Your children. A domestic violence restraining order can carry custody and visitation orders, which means a single hearing can reshape your parenting schedule.
Your home. Move-out orders force respondents out of shared residences, sometimes within hours, regardless of whose name is on the lease.
Your record and your work. Restraining orders appear in background checks. Professional licenses, security clearances, and jobs involving firearms or vulnerable populations are all exposed.
Your immigration status. For non-citizens, an order and any related criminal charge can carry consequences well beyond the courtroom.
If you have been served in Glendale, call Hurwitz Law Group at (323) 244-4147 before your hearing date. Early involvement gives us the most room to work.
Every case turns on its own facts, but the strongest defenses tend to come from the same places.
Our attorneys start with the legal standard. The person requesting the order carries the burden, and vague or general allegations frequently fail to meet it when someone actually challenges them.
Evidence does the rest of the work. Text threads, emails, GPS and location data, timestamps, financial records, and photos routinely contradict the account in a request, and requests are often written from memory weeks after the fact.
Motive matters too. Restraining order requests surface during divorces, custody fights, breakups, business disputes, and landlord conflicts, and judges are receptive when a filing lines up suspiciously well with someone's leverage in another case.
Sometimes the right move is not a fight at all. Where the terms are narrow, and the risk of an adverse ruling is high, negotiating a resolution can protect your firearm rights and your custody arrangement better than a loss at hearing would.
We also prepare you to testify. Cross-examination in these hearings is short and pointed, and clients who walk in ready do far better than clients who improvise.
Preparation covers the small things that sink otherwise strong cases. Answering only what is asked, staying composed when the account turns personal, and resisting the urge to argue with the judge all make a measurable difference.
Witnesses need the same attention. A neighbor, coworker, or family member who saw what actually happened can shift a hearing, but only if their testimony is organized and relevant before the court date arrives.
An existing order creates new criminal exposure. Under California Penal Code 273.6, intentionally and knowingly violating a protective order is a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in county jail, a fine of up to $1,000, or both.
The penalties climb from there. When a violation causes physical injury, the statute calls for a fine of up to $2,000 and a jail term of at least 30 days and up to a year. A judge may reduce that 30-day minimum in the interest of justice, but only for reasons stated on the record.
Two details catch people repeatedly. Permission from the protected person does not cancel a court order, so a text inviting you over is not a defense.
Contact through a third party can also count. If you are accused of a violation, do not explain yourself to law enforcement before you speak with our attorneys.
Many of our Glendale clients are fighting on two fronts at once. A police report generates criminal charges, and the same allegations produce a restraining order request in civil court.
These cases run on separate tracks with separate judges and separate deadlines. What you do in one directly affects the other.
The written response is where this becomes dangerous. A declaration filed to defend yourself in the restraining order matter becomes a sworn statement a prosecutor can use in the criminal case.
Testimony at the hearing carries the same risk. Handling both matters through one firm keeps your defense consistent instead of letting one case undercut the other.
The hours after service shape everything that follows. A few decisions matter more than the rest.
A judge can issue a domestic violence restraining order lasting up to 5 years. Temporary orders last only until your hearing date.
No, but the other side may have one. These hearings involve evidence rules, testimony, and cross-examination that affect your rights for years.
False allegations happen in custody battles and breakups. We gather records, messages, and witnesses that contradict the claims and expose the motive behind them.
Yes. Restraining orders are civil court records and are visible to employers, landlords, and licensing agencies conducting background checks.
Either side can ask the court to modify or terminate an order. Success depends on changed circumstances and how the request is presented.
The judge can grant the full order without your input. Contact us immediately, because options after a default order are limited and time-sensitive.
You have a narrow window between service and your hearing, and what you do with it decides how the next several years look. Attorney Brian Hurwitz and our team defend people across Glendale against domestic violence, civil harassment, elder abuse, and workplace violence orders, and we prepare every case as though it is going to hearing.
Speak with a Glendale restraining order attorney at Hurwitz Law Group before you file anything or say anything. Call (323) 244-4147 for a free case evaluation, or contact us here.
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