Have you been served with an AVO/ADVO or charged with Common Assault?

William Vahl has over 25 years experience representing people charged with assault and defending AVO’s and breaches of AVO’s.

Servicing the North Shore, including North Sydney, Northern Beaches, and across Sydney.

We can help you defend AVOs, assault matters and represent you in court.

If you have been served with an application for an Apprehended Violence Order (‘AVO’) and or charged with Common Assault we can help you.

You can defend an AVO

You are entitled to defend an application for an AVO and we have done so successfully for many of our clients who found themselves in your position. At the very least we invariably succeed in negotiating the terms of the AVO so that it is for a shorter period of time and contains less onerous conditions.

Get independent legal advice before consenting to an AVO

The Police will not encourage you to defend an AVO or to negotiate its terms. The Police will urge you to consent to the Order being made against you. Many people are persuaded by the Police to do this. But if the Court makes an AVO against you it has serious implications: an AVO limits your freedom of action, and there can be grave consequences if you breach an AVO or you are provoked into breaching an AVO. Consenting to an AVO may not be in your interests at all and may be completely unnecessary. You should obtain independent legal advice about your prospects of defending the AVO.

AVO’s often accompany charges of Common Assault

The Police will apply for an AVO against you if there has been a complaint of domestic violence. It is often the case that AVO applications are accompanied by a criminal charge, typically a charge of Common Assault. The most common scenario is a heated and sometimes violent dispute with a family member or partner during which the Police are called.

Self Defence

The fact that you may have been involved in a heated and violent dispute with your partner or a family member does not mean you should consent to an AVO or plead guilty to Common Assault. We have acted for numerous clients who have successfully defended charges of Common Assault and AVO applications on the grounds of self defence. We have also successfully defended a violent domestic assault charge on the grounds that our client was intoxicated by the prescription medication called Champix.

What if your partner or family member does not want an AVO against you and does not want you to be charged with assault?

It often happens that the alleged victim of domestic violence does not want their family member or partner to be charged and does not want the Police to proceed with the AVO, but the Police insist on proceeding anyway. In our experience the Police will usually refuse to withdraw the assault charge and AVO in these situations and will leave the matter for the Court to decide.

We have acted successfully for numerous clients who have found themselves in this situation. In all of these matters we have been successful in having both the assault charge and AVO dismissed by the Court.

What happens if you breach an AVO?

A breach of an AVO is treated very seriously by the Police and the Court and if the breach involves violence the Court must consider a custodial penalty. Do not despair if you have been accused of breaching a AVO. No client of ours has ever received a custodial penalty for breaching an AVO and we have acted for numerous clients who have successfully defended charges of breaching an AVO.

Call us for help 24/7 on 9955 2298 or 0400 44 64 24 (after hours emergency number).

More information:

If you been served with an AVO and or charged with Assault and need legal advice or are seeking further information about AVOs, call North Shore Criminal Law on (02) 9955 2298 or our 24 hour Emergency Service on 0400 44 64 24.