Protection from Abuse

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On December 18th, Governor Corbett signed into law a bill updating Pennsylvania’s child abuse laws. When the abuses perpetrated by Jerry Sandusky were exposed, Pennsylvania’s child abuse statutes were scrutinized and found lacking in many respects. Sara Ganim of the Harriburg area Patriot-News wrote an excellent summary of these criticisms in November 2012. The investigation…

A South Carolina attorney was recently disciplined for failing to have an active email address.

Despite characterizing herself as “retired” and not having a client in thirty years, the South Carolina Disciplinary Board still found that she “poses a substantial threat of serious harm to the public and to the administration of justice” for…

The stereotype of a family law attorney is that they deal in divorces or are limited to issues between spouses. The reality is that the practice can be far reaching in scope and encompass estate planning issues, business interests, and matters that extend beyond ex-spouses, but that deal with many aspects of a client’s life.  A…

Protection from Abuse (aka “PFA”) Orders are Pennsylvania’s version of what is colloquially known as the “restraining order.” What makes the PFA unusual is that it is a civil action, but has a criminal component to it, namely the punishment for violating the PFA: jail.

One of America’s longest standing legal traditions is that a defendant…

Pennsylvania’s Protection from Abuse Act is the mechanism under which individuals can seek restraining orders against abusive parties. In filling out a petition for protection from abuse, the filing party must define the relationship between the plaintiff and defendant. Among the choices, are spouse, ex-spouse, parents of the same children, brother/sister, persons who live or have lived…