Protection Order Respondent

Things can move quickly — you may have a permanent order hearing right around the corner. You will likely want to request a continuance of the hearing in order to have adequate time to file a reply to the petition. The reply comes by way of a declaration, which is critical to your defense. 

At the hearing itself, the commissioner will hear arguments from both sides and make a decision as to whether the order will be granted or denied.

There is of course a lot more to it than this — too much to get into in an FAQ. Simply give us a call and we will explain the whole process in our consultation.

Whether it’s our firm or another experienced firm, you are better off with an attorney. Trying to navigate legal proceedings such as this on your own puts you at a disadvantage. While attorneys can never give any guarantees of success, having an attorney by your side puts you in the best position possible for success.

No. Once hired, we file our Notice Of Appearance and then typically can get a continuance of the permanent protection order hearing. This is more difficult to do if you have previously had a continuance of the hearing.

While it’s understandable to ask this question, it’s not one that can be answered in an FAQ like this. Each case is different and we would need to talk to you at length and review all documents prior to being able to give you an idea of how things are looking with your case. 

That said, there is no time when we would ever be able to provide any sort of exact percentages or odds. And there have been many times when we advise a Petitioner that the relief they are seeking may not be granted, or where we tell a Respondent that a protection order is likely to be granted. Overall, our goal is to help you make the most informed decision about how to move forward.

You will likely have to either surrender the guns to law enforcement, sell them to a licensed dealer or transfer the guns to someone else. There will then be an entirely separate hearing needed regarding the surrender of any firearms. 

You will be able to get surrendered firearms back if/when the protection order is terminated and you do not have anything else on your record that disqualifies you from gun ownership.

The effects a protection order has will vary from person to person depending on each individual’s unique situation. For some, it has little to no impact on their lives. For others, it can be detrimental.

For instance, if you co-parent with the protected party, there can be a unique set of challenges with these orders. 

The orders unfortunately also show up on background checks, so whenever you are in a situation where a background check is needed, these orders can appear and may cause issues.

There can also be employment issues for some, depending on what your job is.

Possibly, which is why we have to be very careful in how we respond to a civil protection order. This is also why it is beneficial to have a criminal defense attorney represent you at a protection order hearing. 

There are also many situations where we recommend that a you do not contest a civil protection order when you are simultaneously facing criminal charges and/or are under investigation.

Of note, if you are merely being investigated for a criminal charge and no formal charges have be filed against you, we can also seek to delay a permanent protection order hearing until a filing decision has been made. It’s ultimately up to the judge to rule whether he/she will allow the civil hearing to be delayed in that manner.

Preponderance of the evidence. This simply means more likely than not. Put another way, 51% to 49%.

No, with your assistance, we write and file a declaration on your behalf. Then at the hearing itself, we make arguments on your behalf based on that declaration and any attached exhibits.

Yes, but in many cases this may not be the best option.

There is also the possibility of seeking to have the commissioner “realign the parties.”  Whether this is either a viable or advisable option is determined on a case by case basis.

As we do in all of our cases, we charge flat fees for our services rather than hourly rates. The amount of the flat fee will vary based on the projected scope of work. In other words, in order to provide you with an exact quote, we will need to speak with you first.

Yes, for civil protection orders, we do charge a flat fee for consultations (whereas we do not do so for criminal cases). The reason for this is that we read and analyze temporary protection orders and/or other relevant client-provided documents prior to the consultation itself. So we would have to send these documents to us ahead of the consultation. We then review everything ahead of time and then we would spend up to an hour consulting with you. 

The flat fee for our consultations can vary from case to case. That said, the most common fee is $500. If you end up retaining our services after the consultation, this fee is applied towards the rest of the retainer.

No, as the respondent you unfortunately cannot recover attorneys fees even if you win. You may have the option of filing a civil lawsuit, however. 

Yes, if they other party has hired an attorney and they prevail in getting the permanent protection order granted, they will almost always then seek to recover attorneys fees. The amount of fees that will be awarded vary from case to case based on the the amount of time opposing counsel spent on the case, combined with their rates.

If I lose the permanent protection order hearing, do I have any options to try and change the decision?

Yes, you have three options to try and have the decision reversed. We would advise you as to which, if any, of the options you may want to consider pursuing.

(1) Motion for reconsideration 

This is a written request made to the same commissioner that made the decision to issue the permanent protection order. It is requesting him/her to reconsider their order based on new information/argument you want to present, or if you believe the order was improperly granted on legal grounds. Note that very few commissioner’s are going to reverse themselves. This motion must be made within 10 calendar days from the day the protection order is granted. 

(2) Motion for revision

This is a request for a judge (rather than a commissioner) to review and re-weigh/consider only the evidence presented at the Protection Order hearing, where you are asking them to change the commissioner’s decision because you believe it was wrong. This motion must be made within 10 calendar days from the day the protection order is granted.

(3) Appeal

This is a request that bypasses revision and goes directly to the Washington State Court of Appeals. An appeal must be filed no later than 30 calendar days from from the day the protection order is granted and can take up to a year or more to be heard.