MR. CORLETTA GETS ESTRANGED CLIENT BACK INTO HOME

Mr. Corletta recently faced an acutely difficult situation, due to easy access to Orders of Protection, which are handed out without verification by the courts. His client was excluded from the marital residence due to a one sided ex parte Order of Protection, obtained without verification, by the client's spouse, who had ulterior motives to remove the client, including an extramarital affair with a third party and a desire to “set up” a move to another residence. Neither are legitimate grounds to obtain an Order of Protection, which is life-altering and can affect things such as employment and reputation.

Based upon allegations of arguing, the client was excluded from the marital residence, for which the client was solely responsible, and forced to move out of state to a friend’s house, as the client has no family in the area. More egregious was the client's spouse previously obtained 2 Orders of Protection in the last month, which the spouse subsequently agreed to withdraw, and failed to show up for Court appearances. Clearly, the spouse was manipulating the system to suit their own purposes.

Upon being retained, Mr. Corletta attacked the spouse on two fronts, immediately moving to vacate the Order of Protection, and starting a divorce action against the spouse. Mr. Corletta’s aggressive action worked and his client was restored to the residence, and restored contact with the party’s child, against when there were no allegations of any harm.

Mr. Corletta repeatedly argued the spouse was abusing the Order of Protection process. Only through aggressive advocacy, which the spouse claimed were “bulldog” tactics, was Mr. Corletta able to restore the client to their home. The spouse complained about Mr. Corletta’s tactics, but made no attempt to justify obtaining an Order of Protection in the first place, and like in the other cases, immediately agreed to scale it back. Such a use of an Order of Protection is improper and Mr. Corletta has long argued against this on behalf of his clients.