Menu
If you are in immediate danger, call 911. Bergen County’s Alternatives to Domestic Violence runs a 24-hour crisis hotline at 201-336-7575 from One Bergen County Plaza in Hackensack. The Center for Hope & Safety in Rochelle Park operates a separate 24-hour line at 201-944-9600.
Whether you are seeking protection or defending against an accusation, a domestic violence lawyer in Hackensack should be able to tell you what happens in the next ten days, not just what the statute says. Cowen & Jacobs is a women-owned firm representing both plaintiffs and defendants in restraining order matters across Bergen County.
Your hearing will be held in the Family Division of the Bergen County Justice Center at 10 Main Street, a short walk from our office at Court Plaza South. Barbara E. Cowen has handled these matters since 1981 and clerked in the Bergen County Superior Court, which shapes how we prepare a case that is usually decided within days and never expires once it is.
A restraining order does not issue simply because a relationship turned hostile. Under the Prevention of Domestic Violence Act, N.J.S.A. 2C:25-19, a judge must find that the defendant committed one of the specific criminal offenses the statute lists.
Those predicate acts include:
The relationship also has to qualify. Spouses, former spouses, household members, co-parents, and dating partners are covered. A dispute with a neighbor or a coworker is not a domestic violence case, however serious it is.
Even when a predicate act is proven, that is only half the test. Under Silver v. Silver, the court must separately find that a restraining order is necessary to protect the plaintiff from immediate danger or further abuse. Cases are won and lost on that second prong far more often than people expect.
Most people meet this process with no warning and very little time. Here is how it actually runs here.
New Jersey is one of the few states where a final restraining order has no expiration date. One hearing, often held inside two weeks of service, decides it.
The consequences reach well past no-contact terms:
The order follows you regardless of where you move within New Jersey, so relocating from Hackensack to Englewood or out of the county changes nothing about its terms or its permanence.
Dissolving one later is possible but demanding. Courts apply the Carfagno factors, and the burden sits with the person asking. The realistic opportunity to avoid these outcomes is at the hearing itself, which is why defense preparation cannot wait.
A restraining order rarely stays in its own lane. It is a civil matter handled by the same family law attorneys who will see your divorce or custody case through.
A restraining order can grant temporary custody and set parenting time immediately, before either parent has been heard at length. Those terms complicate everyday logistics when one parent stays in the marital home and the other moves in with relatives in Teaneck or a nearby town, since exchanges have to happen without contact.
Findings from the final hearing carry into the custody determination that follows, and any financial relief in the order is temporary until child support is calculated properly. When a divorce is already pending, our divorce lawyers in Hackensack coordinate both cases so nothing said at the hearing undercuts the divorce.
Plenty of firms list domestic violence on a practice page. Fewer have spent four decades in the courthouse where your hearing will be held.
No firm can guarantee an outcome. We can promise preparation and advocacy grounded in this county.
Every Bergen County domestic violence matter is heard in the Family Division of the Bergen County Justice Center at 10 Main Street in Hackensack. That holds whether the TRO was issued here or by a municipal judge in Ridgewood or another Bergen County town.
Yes. When the courthouse is closed, your local police department can reach an on-call judge who can issue a temporary order immediately. The New Jersey courts also let you apply in the county where you live, where the other person lives, where the incident happened, or where you are staying.
The judge can grant the plaintiff exclusive possession of the residence regardless of whose name is on the lease or deed. If that happens, the defendant leaves and arranges a police escort to collect belongings at a set time.
It can, but the standard is demanding. The court weighs the Carfagno factors, including whether the plaintiff consents and whether they still fear the defendant. This is far harder than winning at the original hearing, which is why the hearing deserves full preparation.
Restraining order matters are billed hourly against a retainer, and the amount depends on whether the case is contested and how much evidence it involves. Your first consultation is free, and we quote a specific retainer before you commit.
Are you ready to get started on your case with a consultation? With over 35 years of experience, our attorneys are ready to fight for you. Reach out to us today to see what Cowen & Jacobs can do for you.
NOTICE: The use of the Internet or this form for communication with the firm or any individual member of the firm does not establish an attorney-client relationship. Confidential or time-sensitive information should not be sent through this form.
You will not be handed to an associate. One of the partners takes your case at the first call and stands up at the final hearing.
Barbara handles the firm’s restraining order caseload, for plaintiffs and defendants alike. She has practiced family law in New Jersey since 1981 and clerked in the Bergen County Superior Court, and her focus in these matters is the final hearing: whether the conduct meets a predicate act, building the record on necessity, and preparing clients to testify and be cross-examined.
Sara handles what a restraining order does to a client’s job. Employment fallout is common in these cases, from extending the order to a jobsite to dealing with an employer who reacts badly once it surfaces, and her employment law practice covers that side while Barbara handles the hearing.
A final restraining order in New Jersey is permanent, and it is decided in a single hearing that is probably already on the calendar. Whichever side of it you are on, walking in without counsel means arguing against someone who may not be. Sit down with Barbara or Sara for a free, confidential consultation and leave knowing what the hearing requires and what we will do to prepare it.
We are here for you and ready to help you resolve your legal issue. For a consultation discussing your case, call Cowen & Jacobs today.
Attorney Advertising. The transmission and receipt of information contained on this website, in whole or in part through this website, does not constitute or create a lawyer-client relationship between Cowen & Jacobs and any recipient.