Domestic Violence Injunction Defense, Coral Gables

An injunction is not a criminal charge.

A domestic violence injunction, what most people call a restraining order, is a civil proceeding filed in family court under Chapter 741. Nobody is prosecuted and there is no jail exposure from the injunction itself. But a judge can enter a temporary order the same day it is filed, before you have said a word, and a final injunction can strip your right to possess a firearm, remove you from your own home, and restrict contact with your children.

The hearing is where it is won or lost.

A temporary injunction lasts until a full hearing, usually within about two weeks. That hearing is your one chance to cross-examine the petitioner, present your own evidence, and put the facts on the record. Most respondents walk in without a lawyer and lose because they treat it like an argument instead of a trial. It is a trial. We prepare it as one.

What a final injunction costs you.

Loss of the right to possess a firearm. Removal from a shared home. Restrictions on seeing your children. A permanent, searchable record that shows up on background checks for housing and employment. An injunction is not a conviction, but it follows you like one.

If there is also a criminal charge, you need both handled.

A domestic violence arrest often produces two cases at once: the criminal charge and the civil injunction, in two different courtrooms. This firm handles both, which means one lawyer who sees the whole picture instead of two who each see half.