Attorney Jason Balestrini Represents Both Sides. Petitioners and Respondents, in Shelby County
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Memphis Order of Protection Attorney
Most people who walk into an order of protection hearing, also called a restraining order hearing, have no idea what they're in for. They think it's a formality. They think they'll just tell their side of the story and the judge will see the truth. They're wrong.
If what you actually need is to stop the other parent from making a decision about your child, such as a tattoo, a medical decision, or a school change, that is a different filing. See temporary restraining orders involving children.
An order of protection hearing in Shelby County is a real legal proceeding. There's a magistrate. There are rules of evidence. There's an opposing party who may have an attorney, and if they do, and you don't, you are already at a severe disadvantage before you open your mouth.
Orders of protection are among Attorney Jason Balestrini's most practiced areas. There is very little that happens in one of those hearings that he has not already seen, from both sides of the table: petitioners seeking safety and respondents fighting false accusations.
Your Attorney
Attorney · Tennessee Bar · Practicing Since 2011
Attorney Jason Balestrini's practice is dedicated exclusively to criminal law in Shelby County, and orders of protection are among his most practiced areas. There is very little that happens in one of those hearings that he has not already seen, representing both petitioners seeking safety and respondents fighting false or exaggerated accusations.
He is one of the highest five-star reviewed attorneys in Memphis. He is a founding partner of the firm and has been practicing criminal defense in Memphis since 2012.
What You Need to Know
Here's what most people don't find out until it's too late: if there is any domestic relationship between you and the petitioner, a spouse, an ex, someone you lived with, someone you dated, a co-parent, then violating an order of protection is automatically a felony. Not a misdemeanor. A felony.
That means if your ex gets an order and you happen to run into them at the grocery store, you could be looking at a felony arrest and a bond that starts at $10,000. If you go back to the house you shared to get your things, even once, even briefly, felony. The order doesn't care about your intentions.
And while the case is pending, the court will suspend your carry permit and require you to surrender all firearms. This affects your job if you work in law enforcement, security, or any field that requires you to be armed.
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Filing an Order of Protection
An order of protection in Tennessee is available to victims of domestic abuse, stalking, and sexual assault. You don't need to have a police report. You don't need to have physical injuries. You need to show a court that abuse or stalking occurred and that you are in reasonable fear of further harm.
To qualify, you generally need a specific relationship with the respondent, a current or former spouse, a co-parent, someone you lived with, someone you dated, or in some cases a person who stalked or sexually assaulted you regardless of the relationship.
Filing starts with an ex parte hearing, you go to court without the respondent present and present your evidence to a magistrate. If granted, a temporary order goes into effect immediately and the respondent is served. A full hearing is then scheduled, usually within 15 days, where both sides present their case.
Attorney Jason Balestrini has represented petitioners in Shelby County order of protection cases and knows what evidence magistrates need to see, how to present it properly, and how to build the strongest possible case for the full hearing.
Related Charge
In Shelby County, an order of protection and a domestic assault charge frequently arise from the same incident. If you are facing both, or if a domestic assault charge is pending and an order of protection has been filed, the two cases need to be handled together, not separately. What you say or do in one proceeding can directly affect the other.
Jason handles both. He knows how these cases interact in Shelby County courts and how to build a strategy that accounts for the full picture.
The Statute
Orders of protection run on Tenn. Code Ann. § 36-3-601 and the sections that follow. The parts that decide most cases:
Straight Answers
Under Tenn. Code Ann. section 36-3-601, abuse means inflicting or attempting to inflict physical injury, placing a person in fear of physical harm or physical restraint, malicious damage to personal property, or financial abuse. It also reaches acts carried out indirectly through a third party.
Preponderance of the evidence. More likely than not, which is far below the criminal standard. A petitioner does not have to prove that physical violence already happened. Proof of a genuine fear of physical harm is enough.
A final order runs for a fixed period not to exceed one year under Tenn. Code Ann. section 36-3-608. If the respondent violates it the court may extend it up to five years, and up to ten years on a second or subsequent violation. Lifetime orders are available under section 36-3-627 where the respondent was convicted of certain felony offenses.
Ten days from a general sessions court, under Tenn. Code Ann. section 36-3-601(3)(F). In New v. Dumitrache, 604 S.W.3d 1 (Tenn. 2020), the Tennessee Supreme Court held that the ten days condition the reviewing court's subject matter jurisdiction, meaning a late appeal cannot be heard at all.
It depends on whether the case is connected to a divorce. If it is, or one is coming. Sam Jaber handles it, since the order will likely fold into the broader domestic case. If there's no divorce involved, the hearing happens at the Shelby County Criminal Justice Center before a magistrate, which is Jason Balestrini's territory. Both are at the same firm, both have been doing this for over 15 years, and both know how these cases work in Shelby County.
Tennessee's order of protection statute, also called a restraining order, is available to victims of domestic abuse, stalking, and sexual assault. To file, you generally need a qualifying relationship with the respondent: a current or former spouse, a co-parent, someone you lived with or dated, or in stalking and sexual assault cases, the relationship requirement is different. If you are unsure whether you qualify, call us, we will tell you honestly what your options are.
The petitioner goes to court without you, this is called an ex parte hearing, and gets a temporary order by showing basic proof that abuse or stalking occurred. You don't get to respond. You don't even know it's happening until you're served. Once served, a full hearing is scheduled, typically within 15 days in Shelby County, where both sides appear. At that hearing, the petitioner has to prove by a preponderance of the evidence, more likely than not, that they are in reasonable fear of further harm. That's where we come in.
Less than you'd think to get a temporary order. More than you'd think to win the full hearing. Most cases come down to a he said/she said, and the evidence is usually text messages and cell phone video. All of that can be admissible, but only if you know how to introduce it properly. The rules of evidence are not intuitive. People who represent themselves get objected into silence. A skilled attorney knows how to get evidence in front of the magistrate, and how to keep the other side's evidence out.
You hire someone who has been on both sides of the table. The best defense attorneys understand how petitioners build their cases, because they've built those cases themselves. Jason Balestrini has handled hundreds of these hearings in Shelby County. He knows what the other side is going to do before they do it.
If the relationship qualifies as domestic, the violation is automatically a felony. Bond starts around $10,000. You will be arrested. Do not test this, not even to get your belongings, not even for a brief conversation, not even if they reach out to you first. Call us instead: (901) 578-1515.
While an order of protection is in effect, the court will suspend your carry permit and require you to surrender all firearms. This is not optional and it is not negotiable while the order stands. For anyone who works in law enforcement, security, or any field requiring them to be armed, this is a career-level problem, not just a legal one. Fighting the order and getting it dismissed is the only way to restore those rights. Call us immediately if your livelihood depends on being armed.
Pro se. And it almost never goes well. These hearings last one to three hours. The rules of evidence apply. The magistrate is not going to coach you through the process. If the other side has an attorney, and they probably do, you are walking into a lopsided fight. The cost of hiring an attorney is a fraction of what a bad outcome costs you.
Attorney fees start at $4,000 and go up from there. What moves the number is the complexity of the proof, how many witnesses are involved, and what the hearing is going to take. Call with the specifics and you will get a straight figure rather than a range.
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