What Comes Next after the First Court Appearance?
Okay, so last time we talked about that first court appearance. So after the first court appearance, what comes next? My name is Brian L. Jackson, I’m an Oklahoma father’s rights attorney here with Dads.Law where fathers are not disposable and we’re going to talk about what comes after that first hearing on the PO.
The short answer is probably the next step is going to be discovery, which is basically your attorney gets to ask, gets to send and hopefully retain one or if you are representing yourself you can do this. You get to do written discovery, if you want to you can do deposition too, although depositions are costly. But essentially you get to ask questions, you get to do requests for admission, you get to request production of exhibits and what not. You can make them appear for a deposition, which is basically like a live interview where they’re asked, you can ask questions on the record about the facts surrounding how you got into PO court.
On defense and you’re subject to discovery on defense, you really do need a good lawyer because there are some pitfalls there. You could wind up inadvertently admitting to a crime or admitting facts that would help convict you of a crime and her attorney can walk that up to the DA’s office and screw you. So be aware of that. If you get served with discovery, you get served with a notice of deposition, you really do need a good lawyer who can help you get through that without jamming yourself up worse.
Settlement Negotiations and Organizing Your Case
So that’s what can come next. In some situations you may also be looking at some kind of settlement negotiations. Obviously you’re not going to talk to her about that, but you can talk to her attorney if she has one or if she doesn’t have an attorney and you want to talk settlement, it’s probably a good idea that you get an attorney and have them contact her about settlement. But that’s a possibility. Also, you want to sit down and organize your case in chief for defense. Obviously this comes after discovery, but you want to have everything in line as far as what you’re going to present.
Potential Motion Practice and Seeking Legal Counsel
The last thing that could also come after that would be potentially motion practice and I’m going to talk about that in a future video. If you have any questions about that, if you haven’t already retained counsel and you’re at the stage where you’ve already appeared in court once, you really do need good counsel. One place you can find a good Tulsa protective order lawyer is at Dads.Law where fathers are not disposable.
Get a Low-cost Strategy Session with Dads.Law
If you’re facing a protective order case and need legal guidance, I encourage you to reach out to us at Dads.Law. We offer a initial consultation to discuss your situation and provide you with the assistance you need. Don’t navigate the legal process alone, let us help you protect your rights as a father.
