Somerville Domestic Violence Information

The short answer for Somerville

Somerville domestic-violence cases typically run two parallel tracks: a criminal charge in the local District Court (assault and battery on a family or household member under M.G.L. c. 265 sec. 13M, restraining-order violation under c. 209A sec. 7) and a civil 209A or 258E petition with a 10-day return hearing. Where the parties share a child or are presently married, related parenting orders move in the Middlesex County Probate and Family Court. The intake call evaluates the matter and the firm either handles it directly or connects the client with a Massachusetts criminal-defense partner attorney at no extra cost.

Where Somerville domestic violence matters are heard

For readers in Somerville, the following Middlesex County courts hear this category of matter:

• Cambridge District Court 4040 Mystic Valley Parkway, Medford, MA 02155 criminal arraignment and 209A and 258E petition return hearings
• Middlesex Probate and Family Court 208 Cambridge Street, Cambridge, MA 02141 parallel parenting orders and 209A petitions involving spouses or co-parents
• Middlesex Superior Court 200 Trade Center, Woburn, MA 01801 felony domestic-violence cases bound over after probable-cause hearing

Filing in the wrong forum is a procedural setback rather than a permanent bar, but it costs time. Counsel routes the matter to the correct court at intake.

Engaging counsel from Somerville

Jim Glaser Law accepts Somerville matters by telephone at the number above. The first telephone consultation is offered without charge. Matters accepted on contingency carry no attorney fee unless and until the matter resolves with a recovery to the client; case-related costs and expenses are addressed in the written fee agreement.

Somerville sits in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, with a population of approximately 81,045 per the most recent Census estimate. Middlesex County matters of this category are heard and administered through the appropriate Middlesex County forums and are evaluated under the same Massachusetts framework that applies to every domestic violence matter in the Commonwealth.

Somerville's case mix is shaped by the city's role as one of the densest residential cities in the country: pedestrian-and-cyclist incidents along the Somerville Community Path and the McGrath Highway corridor; auto-accident matters along Mystic Avenue and the I-93 access ramps; and a substantial premises-liability docket from the multi-family triple-decker housing stock that defines the city's residential pattern. Somerville's young professional and graduate-student demographic also drives a meaningful share of bicycle-injury and rideshare-injury cases originating in the city. Somerville was incorporated as a town in 1842 and as a city in 1872. The city covers roughly 4.2 square miles between Cambridge and Medford. Somerville ZIP codes span 02143 through 02145, with Davis Square at 02144 and Union Square at 02143.