LegalAtoms to support 14 Day Amendment for Civil Protection Orders in Washington
LegalAtoms, the online software for both the public and courts will now support the 14 Day Amendment feature. The 14 Day Amendment is a possible outcome of the judicial review of a petition, whereby the petition is returned with some concerns by the court, and the petitioner has the ability to make changes and then resubmit within 14 days.
This new feature applies to all Civil Protection Orders in Washington State which are of six types:
- Domestic Violence Protection Order (DVPO)
- Anti-harassment Protection (AHPO)
- Stalking Protection Order (SPO)
- Sexual Assault Protection Order (SAPO)
- Vulnerable Adult Protection Order (VAPO)
- Extreme Risk Protection Order (ERPO)
How it works for the petitioner
Step 1: E-File using LegalAtoms
Today a petitioner can use LegalAtoms to prepare and electronically file a civil protection order with their local court in Washington. The user views a series of questions and then submits the
Step 2: Watch for notifications
A petitioner is kept up to date on the case progress using notifications compliant with House Bill 1320 When a judicial officer issues a decision to the petition such as Denial with 14 Day Amendment, the user will receive an e-mail and text notification with the decision.
The notification will also have notes from the court on what changes are required.
Step 3: Complete the updates
The petitioner will see a new set of questionnaires created with their original responses already populated, thereby providing them a starting point of where they left off. Then they can then make the required changes.
Step 4: Resubmit the Petition
After all the changes are done, the petitioner can re-submit (e-file) the petition for review by the clerk, and subsequently by the judge. The petitioner will continue to receive notifications via e-mail and text on the outcomes of those steps.
How it works for the court
Step 1: Clerk accepts the case
The first step in any case is the acceptance. If the clerk proceeds by not accepting the case and instead opts for any other decision (e.g. rejection or asking for more information) the case is returned to the client for follow up action.
After a clerk accepts a case, the next step is the judicial review for decision on a temporary order
Step 2: Judge Denies the case with 14 Day Amendment
When the judge receives a notification that a case is ready for judicial review, they would login to LegalAtoms and view the case documents. At this point the Judge can opt for Grant or Denial. In case of Denial the Judge has the option to allow for 14 Day Amendments, which causes the case to be returned to the client.
The court now waits for the client to make changes and file. When a client does re-submit the regular flow of notification to clerks for acceptance are rejection are triggered.
For protecting case history, the first submission and denial order is not overwritten but instead new stages of documents are added. This ensures that all parties particularly clerks and other court staff can reference the past submission for a case without losing any detail.