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Hi everyone, I’m Dr. Michael Mantell with another Family Law Matters, and I’m always privileged to be here with Bonnie Rabinovitch-Mantel, the owner and managing partner of the Primus Family Law Group, a family-oriented firm where experience meets results. Hi, Bonnie. Hi, Michael.
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How are you doing? I’m doing well. How are you doing today? I’m doing well. Thank God.
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It’s hard to believe that January is goodbye. It’s in the history books. It’s amazing.
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That brings us up to another holiday, Valentine’s Day. And Valentine’s Day, as we know, is often associated with positive love and those things, but it’s also a time with increased domestic violence, or as we refer to it commonly, DV. Let’s talk about this a little bit.
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How does DV and all of the difficulties that go along with it impact your work with clients and what you do for clients who call you with complaints of that kind of treatment? Well, you know, unfortunately, well, like you said, with Valentine’s Day, you expect it all to be hearts and flowers, but that coupled with the Super Bowl at the same time is also one of those holidays that have its share of domestic violence issues. And DV is not just, you know, physical. We all think of it, that’s the common one, because it is the most severe, but you can have DV in so many other forms, forms that are insidious and are very, very, very hard to prove, you know, things like isolating people from their families, not allowing you access to finances, you know, total control or even things like social media berating, which is why we often tell our clients, you know, a lot of your evidence may be on your Facebook page and your Twitter account and your Snapchat and your Instagram.
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So however you can maintain those accounts and take copies of things, there’s a lot of ways that people try to hurt other people. That’s not just about physicality. And so we tell people, first things first, if you are the victim of this kind of behavior, be it physical, emotional, financial, and your children are seeing it as well, call 911, make a police report, make a police record, call CWS if your children are in danger, then seek out an attorney, because you may have enough grounds to seek a restraining order.
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Now, the reason I say you may have enough grounds is family law is fraught with people who like to do things for the game, unfortunately. So I’m in no way saying, hey, you know, if you’re a victim of DV, you might be. I’m not saying that, but make sure you speak to an attorney, gather your evidence, make sure you’ve spoken to the police, or if you’re too afraid to speak to the police, go to an attorney and that attorney can help you get over that hump.
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There are also crisis lines out there, right, Michael? They’re, you know, call a therapist, but don’t let it just happen to you and your children. And we at Primus know how to help you. We know how to get you that restraining order that you desperately need to protect you and your family.
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Excuse me. Bonnie, you bring focus and clarity and ingenuity and insight to make a real difference in the lives of your clients. If people want to be in touch with you to ask you questions about this topic, domestic violence, especially at this time of Super Bowl and Valentine’s Day or wherever it may be, how can they be in touch with you? You can always reach us at 619-574-8000 for a free 30 minute telephone consultation, or you can reach us at www.primusfamilylaw.com. We have a form that you guys can fill out and we will call you right back and set up that free consultation.