Personal Injury
Each year, millions of people in the United States are injured in accidents. Many of these accidents are unfortunately caused by the preventable carelessness or even malicious intent of others. The law protects those harmed by negligent parties and allows the injured to seek compensation for their suffering. If you or a loved one has been injured in an accident resulting from negligence or intentional harm, you may be entitled to receive just compensation for your physical and psychological injuries.
To protect your rights and make certain that you are taking all of the necessary actions in the recovery process, you should contact a qualified personal injury lawyer. Our law firm handles all personal injury cases including:
Motor vehicle accidents
Slip/trip and fall
Negligence—When the injury was a direct result of the defendant’s improper actions or inactions.
Causation—When the actions of an individual or company cause the injury.
Malicious intent—When the injury is the result of intentional harm. When this is the basis of the claim, a criminal case is usually involved as well.
Product Liability—When a product does not meet safety standards.
Workers compensation
Construction accidents
Our skilled injury attorneys will take the time to learn every aspect of your case and assess whether or not you should take an initial settlement offered by the insurance company. We have the foresight and skill to look at the road ahead and consider future damages which may harm you for years to come including pain, emotional trauma and subsequent injuries. With this knowledge, our personal injury law firm can properly evaluate the full extent of the damage and help to determine if the initial settlement is fair and adequate.
If our attorneys feel the initial settlement offered was unjust and inadequate, we will aggressively pursue damages against the individuals or companies that caused the harm. This claim may be based on:
Following our initial meeting with you, we will reconstruct the accident and gather evidence to support your claim. We routinely work with medical professionals, forensic experts and private investigators that can conduct a detailed investigation and produce an independent analysis of your accident.
In far too many cases, one’s rights are permanently forfeited because the injured person believed what he or she was told by the insurance company. Insurance companies will employ significant resources to challenge your claim in order to maximize their profits. With powerful legal teams and years of experience, these large corporations often have the edge when dealing with the injured. In such circumstances, you take a tremendous risk if you don’t have solid legal counsel and representation on your side. Our experienced personal injury attorneys, however, can help to level the playing field and will work diligently to ensure you receive the compensation you deserve.
While our personal injury law firm cannot undo injury or suffering, we can help obtain significant damages for our injured clients. We are dedicated to obtaining the very best recovery possible for you through experienced, professional and aggressive representation.
Motor Vehicle Accidents
Car accidents are one of the most common causes of personal injury. Even though many auto accidents are minor fender-benders, they nonetheless result in a shocking number of severe injuries and deaths. In addition to disability, victims often experience substantial pain and suffering, emotional distress, lost wages, medical expenses and property damage. Sadly, many car accident victims never receive the full amount of damages to which they are entitled. Very often, car accident victims, unaware of the full value of their claims, accept the first offer from their insurance company.
The insurance company wants to settle your case as soon as possible – and for as little money as possible. After an accident, you need time to determine just how serious your injury is, what medical treatment or physical therapy you need, and how much your lost wages will be. Therefore, it is crucial to retain a qualified personal injury attorney as soon as possible to achieve maximum compensation. Never talk to the insurance company prior to obtaining legal representation.
Our lawyers can help you:
Establish liability by preserving evidence and interviewing witnesses
Ensure you receive the proper medical care as you recover from your injuries
Help you understand the law, including statutes of limitations
Collect the necessary medical records and help you document your injuries properly so that you receive full compensation
Ensure that you receive the compensation to which you are rightfully entitled
Negotiate a settlement that takes into account all future medical and financial needs.
In cases of malicious intent - such as situations where a company knowingly markets products it knows are defective and such defects cause injuries, victims may be entitled to punitive damages in addition to compensatory damages. Our personal injury attorneys can help determine which damages you are eligible for and can help you build an effective case.
We handle car accidents on a regular basis, but we understand this is not an everyday experience for you. We will guide you through every step in the process. Our car accident attorneys and professional staff will get to know you and your situation well, because the better we know you, the better we can represent you.
Slip/Trip and Fall
All property owners, residential and commercial, have the duty to ensure safe environments for all visitors. If you have been harmed by a hazardous condition on another’s sidewalk, personal residence, restaurant, mall, hotel, office building school, park, theater, museum or other property, you may be eligible to file a premises liability claim and receive compensation for your injury.
“Slip and Fall” injuries are a major cause of premises liability and commonly occur from uneven or slippery surfaces but can also be the result of:
crumbling stairs
wet floors
exposed electrical wiring
raised flooring
falling debris
obstructed pathways
poorly lit walkways
Although premises liability law seeks to protect parties who are injured as the result of the property owner’s negligence, it is often difficult to prove liability especially if the owner has corrected the hazardous condition. To ensure that the proper grounds for your claim are met, you should contact our knowledgeable personal injury attorneys who have the resources and experience necessary to help you collect compensation for medical expenses, lost wages, pain and suffering, and even emotional trauma.
Our personal injury law firm can assess your injury and assist you in determining whether the property owner failed to maintain his or her property or properly warn of hazardous conditions. For your claim to be successful, it must be shown that the property owner knew about the hazardous situation and failed to correct it in a timely manner, and that the action or inaction of the property owner caused the condition which led to your injury.
Once liability has been established, we will work with you in proving a direct causal relationship between the hazard on the property and the injury that you suffered. A myriad of other factors including visitor status must also be considered when filing a premises liability claim. Visitor status explains your reason for the visit to the property. If you are an invited guest your claim may hold more weight in court, whereas a trespasser may not be able to receive any compensation for his injuries.
Our compassionate injury attorneys consider all of these factors and will represent you aggressively so you can take care of what is most important—recovering from your injury and regaining your health.
Construction Accidents
Construction sites pose many dangers to workers and innocent bystanders alike. Construction workers are subject to a high level of risk as they are often involved in potentially dangerous tasks such as lifting heavy objects, operating large machinery, and performing job duties at elevated heights. Still, proper protocol and safety practices can decrease a worker or bystander’s risk of injury. When someone causes a preventable construction accident through negligence, he or she may be liable for the victim's injuries.
When a construction accident causes harm to an employee, workers' compensation laws will generally apply. There are, however, cases in which the worker can also obtain economic recovery from other parties who may be deemed liable such as companies that manufacture construction equipment that prove to be defective.
When an innocent bystander suffers injury as the result of a construction accident, he or she may also be eligible to recover damages by filing a personal injury claim.
Whether you're a construction worker or merely a bystander who has suffered injury as the result of a construction accident, you may be eligible to receive economic recovery for your losses. Our attorneys can help you understand your legal rights and determine a course of action.
Common Causes of Construction Accidents
There are perhaps innumerable ways in which a person can suffer injury at a construction site. Scaffolding accidents are the most common, accounting for nearly two-thirds of all construction accidents. Other common causes include: falls, electrocution, and improperly braced trenches.
When attempting to determine the liability for injuries sustained in a construction accident, it helps to understand each party's responsibilities at the site. In the case that a construction accident occurs, any of the following parties may bear total or partial responsibility:
Site Owners
General and Sub-Contractors
Architects and Engineers
Manufacturers of Construction Machinery or Equipment
Insurers
OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Act) compliance officer
Know Your Rights
If you have suffered injury as the result of a construction accident, you are responsible for proving your case against the liable party(s). This usually requires the help of a qualified attorney. It is always wise to seek competent legal counsel after a construction accident to ensure that your rights are protected, especially since a statute of limitations applies to all workers' compensation and personal injury cases. Contact us for a consultation with a knowledgeable injury attorney.
Real Estate
Residential Real Estate
Buying or selling a home is the most significant financial transaction that many individuals undertake in their lifetime. While this can be an exciting time, without the proper legal guidance, the process can be frustrating, overwhelming and more expensive than necessary. Even if there are no obvious disagreements between the Buyer and Seller, it is advisable for each party to enter into real estate transactions with one’s own attorney who can help steer them away from common pitfalls and facilitate a smooth transfer of property.
We represent buyers, sellers and financial institutions in various real estate matters ranging from drafting a purchase and sale contract to obtaining the final title insurance policy.
We offer our clients broad-based legal real estate advice and representation in the following transactions:
Real estate sales transactions
Closings
Construction contracts
Land use
Easements
Zoning
Permit appeals
Tax-free exchanges
Purchase and sale of real property
Construction (new construction and renovation projects)
Financing
Zoning and variance approvals
Leases
Mortgage-based financing transactions
In addition to real estate transactions, we assist with the following residential and commercial real estate issues:
Foreclosures
Property tax protests (tax certiorari)
Breach of contract
Buyer-seller disputes
Landlord-tenant disputes
Commercial Real Estate
We represent clients in a wide range of commercial real estate matters from the purchase of raw land, to the sale of developed property and everything in between. We work closely with each client in order to ensure protection of all financial and legal interests.
Our firm assists client with the following commercial real estate issues:
Drafting and negotiation of leases
Mortgage issues
Foreclosure and eminent domain matters
Landlord/tenant matters
If you are considering buying, selling, leasing, or investing in commercial real estate property, consult our firm to ensure that your transaction is structured in the most optimal manner possible.
Financial Recovery
Personal Bankruptcy
The decision to file for bankruptcy is often one of the hardest choices that a person has to make in his or her lifetime. Poor planning can often make the process even harder. It goes without saying that filing for bankruptcy should generally be a last resort, and should only be done when all other methods of satisfying one's financial obligations have been exhausted. However, if your situation has become so severe that you are in danger of foreclosure, garnished wages or repossessions, or are facing debts that you are unable to repay, putting off the inevitable can have devastating consequences. Procrastination can cost you your car, your wages, and even your home. Filing your case in a timely fashion can spare you these losses.
Filing a bankruptcy petition can be beneficial in a wide range of circumstances:
If you are close to foreclosure on your home, declaring bankruptcy may stop this from going forward and even establish a payment structure that will help you pay off your arrears.
Bankruptcy may allow you to take back an automobile that has been repossessed by a creditor.
Large medical bills, especially when combined with a loss of employment can create a nearly impossible financial hole to climb out of. Bankruptcy can help reduce or even wipe away your medical bills.
Bankruptcy can stop harassing creditors from turning up on your doorstep, especially if they are being unfairly pushy or unreasonable or fraudulently attempting to take more than you owe.
If your utilities have been shut off, bankruptcy will help restore services so you do not have to live in darkness.
Although your student loans will generally not disappear, bankruptcy may help you to consolidate those debts and pay them off in a reasonable timeframe.
Bankruptcy can end wage garnishment, which means you will be able to afford life’s necessities.
If you are currently facing one or more of these issues, bankruptcy may be the best and most logical way to get a fresh start on your financial start. Contact our law firm to assess how filing bankruptcy can impact your individual situation.