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Protective Orders, Stalking & Intimate Partner Violence: What Every Legal Professional Should Know
Original Program Date :
In recognition of Domestic Violence Awareness Month, this seminar provides a comprehensive and timely look at domestic violence law in Arizona. Participants will gain critical insight into orders of protection, the address confidentiality program, and the fundamentals of intimate partner violence—essential tools for any legal professional working in this field.
We’re also proud to feature a special presentation from the national organization SPARC (Stalking Prevention, Awareness, and Resource Center), a leader in the field of stalking response. This session explores the dynamics of stalking, focusing on the highly contextual nature of the crime by discussing common tactics used by perpetrators, stalking’s co-occurrence with domestic and sexual violence, as well as tools to plan for victim safety and hold offenders accountable. This session will also address common technologies utilized by stalkers, discuss evidence preservation concerns, and identify effective safety-planning strategies.
8:30 – 10:30 a.m.
Updates on Protective Orders
Hon. Wendy Morton, Maricopa County Superior Court
Charles Adornetto, Wickenburg Town Magistrate
10:45 - 11:30
Address Confidentiality Program
Merri Tiseth, Executive Director, Address Confidentiality Program, Office of the Secretary of State
11:30 - noon
Q&A/Panel Discussion
Hon. Wendy Morton, Maricopa County Superior Court
Charles Adornetto, Wickenburg Town Magistrate
Merri Tiseth, Executive Director, Address Confidentiality Program, Office of the Secretary of State
1:00 - 3:00 p.m.
Know More, Do More: Recognizing and Responding to Stalking
Natalie Ivey, Stalking Prevention, Awareness, and Resource Center (SPARC)
3:15 - 4:45 p.m.
Fundamentals of Intimate Partner Violence
Dr. Neil Websdale, Director, Family Violence Center, Arizona State University
Seminar Chairpersons
Hon. Wendy Morton, Maricopa County Superior Court
Charles Adornetto, Wickenburg Town Magistrate
ABOUT THE MODEST MEANS PROJECT
The Modest Means Project provides low-cost legal assistance to people who cannot afford attorneys' standard rates but don't qualify for free legal services. For more information about the program, and to volunteer visit: https://azbar.org/for-legal-professionals/access-to-justice/modest-means/.
Current Modest Means Project Volunteers: Contact Fabiola Perez at Fabiola.Perez@staff.azbar.org to receive your coupon code for 50% off registration.
Legal Aid Attorneys: Contact Chris Groninger at chris.groninger@azflse.org for your coupon code.
Wendy S Morton, Commissioner, Superior Court of Arizona
Honorable Wendy S. Morton is a Commissioner for the Superior Court of Arizona in Maricopa County. She was appointed to the Superior Court bench in 2011 and is currently assigned to the Family Department. This is her second rotation in the Family Department, having previously served as Presiding Family Court Commissioner. Prior to her current assignment, she served in the Juvenile Department and the Criminal Department in Rule 11/Mental Health and Veterans Court. She has also served on the bench at the City of Phoenix, the City of Scottsdale and as an Administrative Law Judge with the Office of Administrative Hearings. She began her career as a Deputy Maricopa County Attorney.
Charles J Adornetto
HON. CHARLES J. ADORNETTO is the Wickenburg Town Magistrate and a Judge Pro Tem in many courts. He has previously been the Judicial Education Officer for the Maricopa County Justice Courts, the Chief Hearing Officer of the Arizona Department of Juvenile Correction, the Chief Hearing Officer/Assistant Director of the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System, and an Assistant Chief Administrative Law Judge at the Arizona Department of Transportation.
Judge Adornetto graduated from Stanford Law School and has a B.S. in Political Science from Arizona State University. He is a member of the Arizona Commission on Access to Justice and the Chair of that group’s Limited Jurisdiction Court Self-Represented Litigant Workgroup. He is a past Chair of the Executive Council of Arizona State Bar Public Lawyer Section and of the Juvenile Law Section.
Judge Adornetto was awarded the 2025 Michael J. Ryan Award for Judicial Excellence from the Public Lawyer Section of the Arizona State Bar; the 2024 Limited Jurisdiction Judges Association Sherry Geisler Member of the Year Award; and he has received three Strategic Agenda Awards from the Arizona Supreme Court for Enhancing Professionalism within Arizona’s Courts: in 2015 (Best Practice for Ensuring Access to Justice for Self-Represented Litigants); in 2020 (Best Practices and Webinars for Evictions During the Pandemic); and 2021 (New Judge Pro Tem Training Program).
Judge Adornetto graduated from Stanford Law School and has a B.S. in Political Science from Arizona State University. He is a member of the Arizona Commission on Access to Justice and the Chair of that group’s Limited Jurisdiction Court Self-Represented Litigant Workgroup. He is a past Chair of the Executive Council of Arizona State Bar Public Lawyer Section and of the Juvenile Law Section.
Judge Adornetto was awarded the 2025 Michael J. Ryan Award for Judicial Excellence from the Public Lawyer Section of the Arizona State Bar; the 2024 Limited Jurisdiction Judges Association Sherry Geisler Member of the Year Award; and he has received three Strategic Agenda Awards from the Arizona Supreme Court for Enhancing Professionalism within Arizona’s Courts: in 2015 (Best Practice for Ensuring Access to Justice for Self-Represented Litigants); in 2020 (Best Practices and Webinars for Evictions During the Pandemic); and 2021 (New Judge Pro Tem Training Program).
Neil Websdale
Professor Neil Websdale is Director of the Family Violence Center at Arizona State University, the National Domestic Violence Fatality Review Initiative (NDVFRI) funded by the US Department of Justice, and the LibrES project, funded by USAID. He has published work on domestic violence, the history of crime, policing, social change, and public policy. Dr. Websdale has published six books: Rural Woman Battering and the Justice System: An Ethnography (Sage, 1998) which won the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences Outstanding Book Award in 1999; Understanding Domestic Homicide (Northeastern University Press, 1999); Making Trouble: Cultural Constructions of Crime, Deviance, and Control (Aldine Books, co-edited with Jeff Ferrell, 1999); Policing the Poor: From Slave Plantation to Public Housing (Northeastern University Press, 2001), winner of the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences Outstanding Book Award in 2002 and the Gustavus-Myers Center for the Study of Bigotry and Human Rights Award in 2002; Familicidal Hearts: The Emotional Styles of 211 Killers (Oxford University Press, 2010). His latest book, Fatal Family Violence and the Dementias: Gray Mist Killings was published by Routledge in 2024. Dr. Websdale’s social policy work involves helping establish networks of domestic violence fatality review teams across the United States and elsewhere. He also directs various community informed intimate partner violence risk assessment initiatives, the fatality review and safety assessment projects, and a number of other multiagency and interdisciplinary initiatives. Dr. Websdale trained as a sociologist at the University of London, England and lives and works in Flagstaff, Arizona.
Merri Tiseth, Executive Director, Address Confidentiality Program
Merri Tiseth joined the Arizona Department of State- Secretary of State’s Office in December 2016 as the Program Coordinator for the Arizona Address Confidentiality Program (ACP). In September 2019 she was appointed Executive Director of the ACP and also joined the National Association of Confidential Address Programs (NACAP) where she serves on the board as Treasurer as well as several other committees.
Prior to joining the ACP team, Merri was with the Arizona Coalition to End Sexual and Domestic Violence (formerly AzCADV) from 2004 until December 2016, as the Director of Legal Services.
Prior to joining the ACP team, Merri was with the Arizona Coalition to End Sexual and Domestic Violence (formerly AzCADV) from 2004 until December 2016, as the Director of Legal Services.
Natalie Ivey
Natalie Ivey (JD) is a Training & Criminal Justice Specialist for the Stalking Prevention, Awareness, and Resource Center (SPARC), an AEquitas initiative. As a Training & Criminal Justice Specialist, Natalie works to educate and equip criminal legal systems to recognize and effectively respond to the crime of stalking.
Before joining the team at SPARC, Natalie served as the Program Manager for the Buncombe County Pretrial Services Program, improving the efficiency of the program and aligning its services with best practice standards for pretrial reporting and supervision. Prior to her work in the pretrial field, Natalie worked in various capacities to support victims of crime, specifically victims of intimate partner violence.
Natalie began her career as a prosecutor, focusing on misdemeanor and felony domestic and sexual violence crimes, but shifted her professional focus to improving systemic response and providing direct services to victims of crime. Through her time with Genesis House and the Community Coalition Against Human Trafficking, Natalie has served as a nonprofit leader and advocate. She has extensive experience facilitating community education programs, building effective coalitions, designing victim service programs, and providing trauma-informed direct services.
Natalie graduated from Tennessee Technological University with a Bachelor of Science in History and the University of Tennessee College of Law with a Juris Doctor degree. Natalie is based in Asheville, North Carolina.
Before joining the team at SPARC, Natalie served as the Program Manager for the Buncombe County Pretrial Services Program, improving the efficiency of the program and aligning its services with best practice standards for pretrial reporting and supervision. Prior to her work in the pretrial field, Natalie worked in various capacities to support victims of crime, specifically victims of intimate partner violence.
Natalie began her career as a prosecutor, focusing on misdemeanor and felony domestic and sexual violence crimes, but shifted her professional focus to improving systemic response and providing direct services to victims of crime. Through her time with Genesis House and the Community Coalition Against Human Trafficking, Natalie has served as a nonprofit leader and advocate. She has extensive experience facilitating community education programs, building effective coalitions, designing victim service programs, and providing trauma-informed direct services.
Natalie graduated from Tennessee Technological University with a Bachelor of Science in History and the University of Tennessee College of Law with a Juris Doctor degree. Natalie is based in Asheville, North Carolina.
