Tag: protective order

As a court advocate in the 280th Protective Order Court, my job is to provide support, information, and resources to applicants (those seeking the protective order). At times, the applicants are represented by the District Attorney’s office, hired attorneys, or through an agency (such as AVDA, Lone Star Legal Aid, or other non-profits), or they represent themselves (Pro Se). Pro Se applicants often express their nerves and worries about representing themselves and not knowing how to fully do so. They express a lack of knowledge of the law or what happens in court in general.

Hearing this prompted me (along with the MSW interns working with me) to create a guide for Pro Se applicants, and a list of answers to frequently asked questions. These guides were created to give Pro Se applicants information about court proceedings, and what’s expected of them during the process. With approval from the courts, these guides are available to people when they come in to apply for a protective order. I genuinely believe that knowledge is power, especially when that knowledge is applied. My hope is that these guides will help those representing themselves to feel more prepared for their hearing.

I am not an attorney, and these guides are not legal advice for self-representation, rather information that is helpful to know when representing oneself.

Lastly, we have created a survey (link below) to get a better sense of what advocates know about Protective Orders and what they’d like to learn. This will help guide our Legal Services Committee to plan future trainings.