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Leving Reunited Dad and Daughter and Protected Their Future
By Laura Reichel
A distressed dad faced every father’s nightmare: his twelve-year-old daughter had been taken from him to a distant state and he feared she was in grave danger.
The mother of his daughter had obtained an Emergency Order of Protection against dad, accusing him of harassment and abuse and their daughter was named as a protected party.
Unable to protect his daughter without risking jail time, dad’s fears deepened when he learned that his daughter was reportedly living with a sex offender. Dad immediately turned to attorney Jeffery M. Leving for help.
The Leving litigation team fought for this father and won.

The judge ordered the mother to return the little girl to her father, awarded dad custody and prohibited the mother from removing the child from Illinois again.
Attorney Jeffery M. Leving will talk about this powerful court victory on his weekly radio show, the Dads’ Rights Legal Hour, 9 a.m. – 10 a.m. CDT Saturday, October 24th on Power 92.3 FM. The show will be available for download on the Dads’ Rights Legal Hour Spotify page at dadsrights.com
Dad and his ex had been living together with their daughter until, without warning, the mother of his child obtained an Emergency Order of Protection against him including their daughter as a protected party. She accused dad of harassment and abuse. Dad feared that if he even attempted to contact his daughter to safeguard her, he would lose his freedom as violating an Order of Protection is a Class A misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in jail in Illinois.
Dad was stunned to learn that the mother had taken his daughter from Illinois to California. Dad’s fears only grew worse after it was reported to him that his daughter was staying in a home with a reported sex offender and people with firearms kept in areas easily accessible to his daughter. Fearing for his daughter’s safety, dad called attorney Leving for help.
Leving assured this frantic father that the Leving legal team would fight to recover his daughter, protect her and reunite them.
The Leving legal team immediately went to court and fiercely litigated on dad’s behalf. They won. The judge ordered the mother to return the daughter to her father, awarded dad custody and prohibited the mother from removing the child from Illinois again.
This court victory modified for publication is a powerful reminder of what is at stake in cases like this: a child’s safety, a father’s need to protect his child, and the hope for a safe and loving future together. The Leving team stood beside this dad during a frightening chapter of his life and helped him protect his daughter and be there for her when she needed him most.
Matrimonial Attorney Jeffery M. Leving is the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award from the President of the United States in recognition of his 7,500 hours of service to this great nation. Leving co-authored the foundational Illinois joint custody law and has dedicated his career to safeguarding children and reuniting them with their fathers.
To learn more about Leving law and fatherhood, visit dadsrights.com

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