Legal Question in Civil Litigation in California

Re: Obtaining prior defendant's TRO.....

As Mr. Cohen and Mr. Tenner point out, you can look at the courthouse records (electronic or paper). Keep in mind that this search will only reveal TRO's this plaintiff has sought in the same jurisdiction. If she has also sought some in other counties they will not show up in your search. There are services you can pay for which will search more broadly for you.

There is one other point I want to make. Your message suggests that you are suing this woman for defamation based upon her filing for a TRO against you. If that is the only basis for your suit then you cannot win. The law recognizes a "litigation privilege", which means that court filings and statements associated with a case cannot be the basis of a defamation claim. If she made statements about you independently of her efforts to get a restraining order then those statements can be the basis of a defamation claim, but if all you have are statements associated with a court case then you are out of luck.

Re: Obtaining prior defendant's TRO.....

Hi - I agree generally with the replies posted by Attorneys Hoffman, Cohen & Tenner, and I'm only writing to expound upon the comments made by Attorney Hoffman in particular.

Attorney Hoffman is correct, if the legal basis for your action (defamation/slander) is the frivolous legal action (TRO) which this woman brought against you, then you may not have selected the correct cause of action. ("Defamation" is a "cause of action," as is slander, breach of contract, negligence, etc.) Even though her lawsuit against you may have had the effect of damaging your reputation and good name - it seems to me that you did not select the correct cause of action as the basis for your lawsuit against her.

I recommend that you speak with an attorney before proceeding too much further with this, but the facts of the case, as set forth in your question, may be grounds for a lawsuit against this woman for "Abuse of Process." "Abuse of Process" is the malicious or irresponsible filing of a lawsuit, having no factual basis or legal merit, the sole purpose of which is to cause the target of the lawsuit emotional distress, annoyance, injury to reputation, expense, financial harm, etc.

Again, speaking with an attorney in your area will save you a lot of time and aggravation, but what you'll need to do at this point is to file with the Court a Motion to Amend your complaint to include a count for Abuse of Process (doublecheck with the court clerk to confirm that this is the correct name for this cause of action, it goes by different names in different jurisdictions). Once you've added this cause of action to your complaint you may want to drop the others (defamation & slander), I don't think your case is going anywhere on those counts.

Finally - be careful when it comes to filing a lawsuit, especially when it comes to selecting the correct cause of action as the basis for your claim. Here's a bit of irony for you, if you went too far down the road relying on the wrong cause of action, and she was forced to hire an attorney and spend money defending herself - her attorney could ask the Court to force you to pay for her legal fees & costs, possibly even sanctions (financial penalties), for having brought a frivolous legal action. Then you'd really be worse off - so be careful and don't rule out spending a little bit of money for some sound legal advice. It may be money well spent.

Regards and Good Luck -

Len Foy

Re: Obtaining prior defendant's TRO.....

Thanks for the compliment, and kudos to the site's owner. You can go to the courthouse and search in the computer for the person's name as a defendant. If no computer, it could be more tedious to search the docket, but it can be done. Good luck.

Re: Obtaining prior defendant's TRO.....

You can look at the court index under her name as plaintiff.