Domestic Assault Lawyer

Domestic violence shatters lives and rips families apart. If you or someone you love has been charged with domestic violence or domestic assault, you have powerful legal protections at your disposal. An experienced attorney can help you protect your rights and your well-being.

​

At the Law Office of Robert L. Lichtenstein, we have extensive experience handling domestic violence issues for clients throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia. Over the past twenty-five plus years, Robert L. Lichtenstein has handled hundreds of these cases.
 

If you’ve been charged with domestic violence this doesn’t make you a criminal or a bad person.  I see clients on a daily basis who are in a healthy relationship or marriage, with absolutely no history of domestic violence or abuse.  It’s quite common that a good person will get themselves in a bad situation, which results in the police being called, and the client needing a Domestic Violence Attorney.
 

Domestic Violence is a reality, and it touches every age, gender and socioeconomic group.  If you’ve been charged with Domestic Violence in Virginia, it’s important that you have an advocate in your corner from the very beginning.  As an experienced Domestic Violence Attorney, I know this charge can affect every aspect of your life, and it can carry life altering consequences.

​

Fighting False Accusations
 

As devastating as domestic violence is, false accusations also ruin lives and corrupt the legal system designed to help victims. As heartless as it sounds, it is not unheard of for a person engaged in a divorce dispute to make a false accusation of domestic violence to gain advantage in the legal proceedings.
 

Our law firm aggressively represents clients who have been falsely accused of domestic abuse. We work to uncover the facts and expose lies, so our clients do not lose the right to live in their homes and spend time with their children.
 

What are Protective Orders?

 

They are legal documents issued by a judge or magistrate to protect the health and safety of a person who is alleged to be a victim of any act involving violence, force or threat that results in bodily injury or places that person in fear of death, sexual assault or bodily injury.
 

In Virginia, there are 3 kinds of Protective Orders that can protect you and others in your family or home:
 

• Emergency Protective Order (expires at the end of the third day following issuance or the next day court is in session, whichever is later)

• Preliminary Protective Order (lasts 15 days or until a full hearing)

• Protective Order (may last up to 2 years)

How will I know when the Emergency Protective Order ends?

 

You should look on the order for the date and time it expires. If you need protection for a longer period of time, you must ask the court for a Preliminary Protective Order.
 

Where do I go to request a Preliminary Protective Order?

 

If the person from whom you want protection is a family or household member or a juvenile, or if you are a juvenile, you should go to the juvenile and domestic relations district court. Otherwise, you should go to the general district court.

 

How do I get a Preliminary Protective Order?

 

You must fill out court forms. If this matter will be in the juvenile and domestic relations district court, you file the forms with the Court Services Unit. If it will be in the general district court, you file the forms in the general district court clerk’s office. You then may go into a courtroom where a judge may ask you questions to decide whether to give you a Preliminary Protective Order.