Legal Question in Civil Litigation in California

Re: answering a restraining order

It depends. If you were not served with the Restraining Order, you may get lucky and the court may dismiss the matter. However, this tactic is somewhat risky as process servers are known to lie about service. The safer route would be to not only provide a concise, complete response, but also to do your own request for a restraining order. My philosophy is that the best defense is a strong offense.

Re: answering a restraining order

When I have defended such matters I have always submitted detailed oppositions with supporting evidence. Hearings sometimes are not as long as defendants would like and they may not get a chance to introduce all of their evidence before time runs out. A written opposition, if done well, can compensate for this problem. There may be circumstances in which I would opt to wait until the hearing, but in general I favor written oppositions.

You should hire a lawyer if possible, since there are rules of evidence you will have to obey which are difficult for laypeople to understand. The consequences of losing can be serious and long-lasting, so the investment in legal fees may prove to be worthwhile.

Re: answering a restraining order

There is no all purpose way to answer this question. At a minimum your answer should summarize your defenses with specific facts that are provable.It's the petitioner's burden to prove his/her case by clear and convincing evidence, which is a far higher burden than the usual preponderance of evidence. I usually avoid doing much more than just very tersely answering the questions and specifically denying what is alleged, if that is what is truthful.I also don't stipulate to orders, since the injunction will be around for years and can take away your rights, like gun ownership.