The Massachusetts Court of Appeals has reversed a lower court’s order to extend an attorney-plaintiff’s protective order against a defendant, finding she was denied a meaningful opportunity to be heard.

The case of Idris I. v. Hazel H.—which are pseudonyms for the parties—came before Cambridge District Court Judge Ina R. Howard-Hogan to decide if the abuse prevention order should be continued after a different judge issued the ex parte order in March 2021.