Practice Areas
Estate Planning:
Good estate planning is more than just a simple Will. It minimizes potential taxes and fees (including Federal and State gift and estate taxes), and sets up contingency planning to make sure wishes regarding health care treatment are followed before and after death. A good estate plan also coordinates what happens to a home, investments, business, life insurance, employee benefits (such as a 401K plan) and other property in the event of disability or death.
Trusts:
Trusts are estate-planning tools that can replace or supplement Wills and can also help manage property during life. A trust manages the distribution of a person's property by transferring its benefits and obligations to different people. Maintaining assets in a Trust often makes it easier to minimize taxes and leave a larger inheritance. A Trust is also a way to provide a steady income to the Beneficiary over time (as opposed to distribution in a lump sum), thus reducing the Beneficiary's tax burden, allowing the Trust to grow through investment, and keeping assets free from creditors of the Trust beneficiary. Trusts can also be established for the benefit of charitable organizations.
Probate:
Probate is the legal process of transferring property following a person's death. Although probate customs and laws have changed over time, the purpose has remained much the same: an individual formalizes his or her intentions as to the transfer of his or her property at the time of death (typically through a Will); his or her property is collected, certain debts are paid from the estate and the property is distributed accordingly.
Business Formation:
There really isn't any need for legal counsel in forming a sole proprietorship, but other forms of business organization are a good deal more complicated and are best accomplished with the assistance of a lawyer. These include the formation of partnerships, limited liability companies and corporations.
Business and Corporate Services:
Business and corporate services involves advising companies and investors in the purchase, sale and mergers of businesses. The services provided include forming and funding start-up companies, buying and selling practices, assets, divisions and companies, engaging in private stock offerings and re-sales, structuring venture capital financing, structuring commercial and partnering transactions and syndicating real property acquisitions.
Business contracts:
Business contracts are written agreements spanning a broad range of the business relationships that occur in the life of a typical company. They can include non-compete agreements, non-piracy agreements, non-disclosure agreements, restrictive covenants, employment agreements, producer agreements, sales representative agreements, consulting agreements, management agreements, franchise agreements, licensing agreements, deferred compensation agreements and independent contractor agreements.
PERSONAL INJURY
Slip and Fall/Premises Liability:
Slip and fall accidents can happen anywhere and can cause serious personal injury. Most slip and falls happen in commercial settings, such as grocery stores, drug stores, office buildings, construction sites, gas stations and malls, but they also happen on private property. Premises Liability accidents can include toxic exposure, animal attacks, swimming pool accidents and amusement park ride accidents. In any event, there exist duties on the part of the property owners to maintain the property responsibly and avoid the existence of hazardous conditions.
Dangerous or defective conditions may be large or small, temporary or permanent. Therefore, investigation of the claim is essential to a successful case. Temporary conditions such as water on the floor of a grocery store, or snow and ice on the stairs of a restaurant need to be investigated quickly.
Construction/ On-the-Job Accidents:
Construction labor makes up one of the three most dangerous occupations in the United States today; each year producing thousands of debilitating injuries and wrongful deaths. Factors that contribute to construction accidents include workers lifting loads with worn and weathered cables, working on elevated platforms without fall protection or wearing defective safety harnesses and lanyards, and/or working in trenches with improper benching and using outdated tools and equipment. Farming and manufacturing accidents, as well as the oil and gas industry accidents can also cause serious injury and toxic exposure.
- Toxic Exposure: Due to the tremendous growth of corporate industry in the United States over the past fifty years, the number of dangerous, toxic substances in the environment has grown significantly. Some toxic substances are shown to cause substantial injury to people, such as lead-based paint (linked to brain damage, especially in children), asbestos (linked to lung cancer and restrictive lung disease), dry cleaning and other solvents (linked to brain damage and major organ damage), pesticides such as dioxin and DDT (linked to birth injuries) and toxic landfill waste (linked to leukemia).
Insurance Claims:
Insurance claims are a notice for reimbursement from an insurance company when the insured has suffered a loss that is covered under the insurance policy. Insurance companies cannot refuse to pay a customer's claim without "reasonable justification." This means that an insurance company must engage in a reasonable investigation and pay legitimate claims in a timely manner. If an insurance company fails to handle its customer's claim properly, it may be held accountable for resulting economic losses, including lost wages, interest on money the insured borrowed to cover expenses while insurance benefits were wrongfully withheld, and loss due to damaged credit.
Nursing Home Abuse & Neglect:
Americans are living longer than ever before. The fastest growing segment in the United States is the elderly population. As a result of this demographic shift, many elderly Americans have become residents of nursing homes during their final years. As many of these nursing homes are under-funded and understaffed, a disturbing incidence of neglect and abuse is being reported. Injuries sustained by nursing home residents due to neglect and abuse often involve the inappropriate use of physical restraints, joint contractors, overuse of sedatives, unnecessary use of urinary catheters, loss of mobility, pressure sores and lack of nutrition with weight loss.
Aviation Accidents:
Aviation accidents occur in a variety of different situations. While the most common aviation accidents are those involving commercial airlines, many accidents occur with private airplanes, as well as commercial and private helicopters. The leading causes of commercial airline accidents include engine failures, controlled flight into terrain, approach and landing, loss of control, runway incursions and weather (including turbulence). Private or "general" aviation accidents can include controlled flight into terrain, weather, loss of control and runway incursions. Aviation law governs the operation of aircraft and the maintenance of aviation facilities. Both federal and state governments have enacted statutes and created administrative agencies to regulate air traffic.
In 1958, The Federal Aviation Act was passed establishing the Federal Aviation Agency. There have been several subsequent acts passed by the federal government regulating aviation such as the Airport and Airway Development Act of 1970, and the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978. The main source for aviation law is federally based. States are prohibited from regulating rates, routes, or services of any air carrier authorized under the Federal Aviation Act to provide interstate air transportation. States are not prohibited, however, from enacting consistent laws, or from altering existing remedies under state law.
Defective Products in Airplanes, Helicopters and Other Aviation Equipment:
Products liability refers to a manufacturer or seller being held liable for placing a defective product into the general stream of use and commerce. Products liability cases may include defective or poorly designed machinery, tools, airline vehicle defects, airplane safety devices, emergency equipment and other defective products and equipment. A person injured by a defective or dangerous product may be eligible to file a lawsuit for products liability, and recover damages under one of the following categories: strict products liability, negligence, or breach of warranty.
Aviation products liability cases represent a unique hurdle for the person bringing a lawsuit because it is necessary to establish that the manufacturer could have used a reasonable, alternative design that would have prevented the victim's injury or death. In order to establish a reasonable, alternative design, the suing party will often need the testimony of an engineer or other expert to critique the manufacturer's design and to suggest the alternative design.
GARA, the General Aviation Revitalization Act of 1994, is designed to protect manufacturers of smaller, private aircraft (less than 20 seats) from accident liability involving older airplanes and/or parts. GARA bars lawsuits against the manufacturer of an aircraft or component part once that item has been in service for 18 years. GARA does not apply if the aircraft was engaged in scheduled passenger carrying, or involved in air medical service operations at the time of the accident.
Wrongful Death Caused by Airplane Accident:
A wrongful death occurs when a person is killed due to the negligence or misconduct of another individual, company or organization. A legal action for wrongful death caused by an airplane accident belongs to the decedent's immediate family members, usually a surviving spouse and children, and sometimes parents. Under certain circumstances, unrelated minor children living with and supported by the decedent may also bring a claim for wrongful death. In order to bring a successful wrongful death cause of action in a plane crash case, the following elements must be present:
- The death of a human being caused by another's negligent or intentional conduct.
- The survival of family members who are suffering the loss of financial support, love, care, comfort, supervision, guidance, household assistance and general society previously provided by the deceased.
The general rule in most jurisdictions in wrongful death cases is that one is entitled to recover both economic and non-economic damages which are suffered as a result of the loss of a loved one. Economic damages in a wrongful death case include an award for the financial contributions which the decedent would have made to his wife, children and/or parents had he or she survived. It also includes the recovery for funeral services in memory of the decedent and for burial costs. Non-economic damages include loss of love, companionship, comfort, affection, society, solace or moral support.
Pilot Error or Employee Error in Aviation Disasters:
If pilot or employee error contributed to or caused an airplane crash, runway accident or other aviation accident that causes a passenger injury, that passenger can maintain a suit not only against the pilot for his or her error, but also against the pilot's employer, the airline. The high degree of care required of a common carrier extends to its employees, including pilots, flight attendants and mechanics.
Boating Accidents:
Typically, powerboats such as runabouts, cabin cruisers and jet skis are the most common watercraft involved in boating accidents, although sailboats can be involved in accidents as well. The most frequent sources of injuries are caused from propeller accidents and collisions. Because personal watercraft such as jet skis cannot be steered when the throttle is released, inexperienced drivers often have collisions when confronted with an emergency. Serious personal injury and even death can occur due to a boating collision or from a person falling over the side of a watercraft and drowning. Legal claims that arise from boating collisions are typically governed by the law of negligence. Any individual who negligently operates a watercraft may be required to pay damages to an injured victim. A maritime case involving a boating accident may become formalized through civil court proceedings, or may be resolved through an informal settlement before a lawsuit is filed. The surviving family members of a fatally injured boating accident victim may be able to recover damages in a maritime wrongful death action against the defendant.
Vehicle Accidents:
Legal claims that arise from vehicle accidents are typically governed by the law of negligence. Any individual who negligently operates a motor vehicle may be required to pay damages to an injured victim. A personal injury case involving a vehicle accident may become formalized through civil court proceedings or may be resolved through an informal settlement before a lawsuit is filed. Vehicle accidents can include:
- admiralty and maritime law
- ATV accidents
- automobile accidents
- aviation accidents
- bicycle accidents
- boating accidents
- commercial bus accidents
- cruise ship accidents
- intersection accidents
- motorcycle accidents
- pedestrian accidents
- rear end collisions
- semi-tractor trailer accidents
- school bus accidents
- SUV rollover accidents
- train accidents
- truck accidents
- yacht accidents
The surviving family members of a fatally injured accident victim may be able to bring wrongful death charges against the defendant.
Automobile Accidents:
A car accident is a collision involving an automobile and anything that causes damage to the automobile, including other automobiles, telephone poles, buildings and trees. Sometimes a car accident may also refer to an automobile striking a human or animal. Car accidents - also called traffic collisions, auto accidents, road accidents, personal injury collisions, motor vehicle accidents and crashes - kill an estimated 1.2 million people worldwide each year, and injure about forty times this number.
Bicycle Accidents:
According to the Federal Highway Administration, over 67,000 cyclists in the U.S. are injured every year in accidents involving motor vehicles. Many cyclists who are injured in bicycle accidents are unaware that they have a personal injury case and that they may be entitled to compensation for injuries, pain and suffering, medical bills and lost incomes. A cyclist may be entitled to receive compensation for an injury sustained because of a pothole, poor road or defective sidewalk. There are state mandated residential and commercial bicycle laws, which entitle cyclists to observe different traffic rules than cars, trucks and other motorized vehicles. This may mean that the cyclist is not legally responsible for an accident.
Motorcycle Accidents:
Motorcycle riders are often exposed to dangers not met by automobile drivers and other motorists on the road. The lack of any substantial protective barriers, as well as the difficulty that other motorists may have in seeing or stopping for a motorcycle, leaves riders prone to serious personal injury in the event of an accident.
Train Accidents:
Train accidents can result in injuries such as sprains and fractures, catastrophic injury such as head trauma, brain damage, paralysis and loss of lives or property. Train accidents can include derailments, collisions with passenger vehicles or other trains, grade crossing accidents or accidents due to mechanical failure. It is the railroad company's responsibility to ensure that there are appropriate signals and gates at every railroad crossing for safety precautions. If the railroad company fails to take such precautions, they are liable for any injury or death that ensues. Victims of train accidents may be entitled to compensation for pain and suffering, medical expenses, property damage, lost wages and loss of earning capacity.
Defective Products:
Products liability refers to a manufacturer or seller being held liable for placing a defective product into the hands of a consumer. Products liability cases may include defective or poorly designed machinery, tools, motor vehicle defects, recreational products, pharmaceuticals and other defective products and equipment. A person injured by a defective or dangerous product may be eligible to file a lawsuit for product liability. Damages can be recovered under one of the following categories: strict products liability; negligence or breach of warranty.
Workers' Compensation:
Workers' compensation is insurance that an employer is required by law to carry in case an employee is injured on the job or becomes ill, temporarily or permanently disabled, or fatally injured due to circumstances surrounding his or her job. Although workers' compensation laws vary from state to state, covered medical care generally includes: medical, surgical and hospital services; dental services; crutches; hearing aids; chiropractic treatment; physical therapy; nursing care and prescribed medications. Additional monetary compensation may be provided if an injured employee is temporarily unable to work for more than a certain number of calendar days set by state law, hospitalized as an in-patient, or becomes permanently disabled due to a job-related injury or illness. The right to receive medical treatment at the employer's expense typically continues as long as treatment is reasonable and necessary to treat the injury.
Wrongful Death:
A wrongful death occurs when a person is killed due to the negligence or misconduct of another individual, company or organization. A legal action for wrongful death belongs to the decedent's immediate family members, usually a surviving spouse and children, and sometimes parents. Under certain circumstances, unrelated minor children living with and supported by the decedent may also bring a claim for wrongful death. In order to bring a successful wrongful death cause of action, the following elements must be present:
- The death of a human being caused by another's negligent or intentional conduct.
- The survival of family members who are suffering the loss of financial support, love, care, comfort, supervision, guidance, household assistance and general society previously provided by the deceased.
The general rule in wrongful death cases is that one is entitled to recover both economic and non-economic damages which are suffered as a result of the loss of a loved one. Economic damages in a wrongful death case include an award for the financial contributions which the decedent would have made to his or her spouse, children and/or parents had he or she survived. It also includes the recovery for funeral service expenses in memory of the decedent and for burial cost. Non-economic damages include loss of love, society, companionship, comfort, affection, solace or moral support.
FAMILY LAW
Divorce:
A court of law is the only way one can obtain a divorce decree, dissolution, legal separation, nullity or other form of terminating a marriage. Other than the termination of the marital estate, the court also has jurisdiction to resolve other issues that are intertwined in the existing marriage which include, but are not limited to: custody and visitation rights, division of property of the marital estate, spousal support, child support, restraining orders, etc.
Property and Debt Division:
Marital property attained during marriage, regardless of whose name it is under, can be divided. Marital property can include real estate (including a home bought in contemplation of marriage), pension plans, vehicles, bank accounts, income tax refunds and/or household furnishings. However, property that is inherited by one spouse is not considered marital property, i.e. a family business or estate. If you are contractually bound with your ex-spouse on a debt, the creditor can require the entire payment of that debt from your share of the property even though the divorce decree assigns the debt to your ex-spouse. Depending on the terms of your divorce decree, you may be able to have certain support obligations under the divorce decree determined to be non-dischargeable by the bankruptcy court or in state court.
Prenuptial Agreements:
A prenuptial, or premarital agreement (often referred to as a "pre-nup") is a written contract created by two individuals who plan to be married. This agreement lists all individually owned property, such as homes and businesses, family assets, stocks and bonds, savings accounts as well as debts, and specifies what will and will not remain individually owned property after the legalization of marriage. Prenuptial agreements also specify whether spousal support will be paid in the event of a divorce, and the intentions regarding distribution of individually owned property upon death.
Child Custody:
Custody is the charge and control of a child, including the right to make all major decisions such as education, religious upbringing, training, health and welfare. Custody usually refers to a combination of physical custody and legal custody. Many factors influence an award of custody and the way a case is presented in court can have a large impact on the result for you and your children. If you are awarded the children as a primary custodial parent, it has far reaching consequences both to you and to their well-being and development.
Child Support:
Child support is a periodic payment made to a custodial parent from a non-custodial parent to help compensate a child's living expenses, i.e. food, clothes, etc., and any other related debts. Missouri Judges use a chart to determine the appropriate amount of child support. Factors used in the determination of the proper amount of child support are: gross income of the parties, day care expenses, amount of overnight visitation by the non-custodial parent, to name just a few.
Spousal Support (Maintenance):
Maintenance (formerly called alimony) is temporary or permanent financial support paid from one separated spouse to the other, either in one lump sum or in installments. Maintenance is designed to provide the lower-income spouse with money for living expenses. Maintenance differs from child support because it is at the discretion of the judge. Child support is usually determined by state-sanctioned guidelines.
There are several factors a judge considers when deciding whether to grant maintenance. These differ from state to state, of course, but they usually involve things like the parties' relative ability to earn money, both now and in the future; their respective age and health; the length of the marriage; the kind of property involved, and the conduct of the parties. In general, about the only time a judge will award maintenance in most states is where one spouse has been economically dependent on the other spouse for most of a lengthy marriage.
Adoption:
Adoption is the legal process by which a person becomes a lawful member of a family different from their birth family. Once a final order of adoption has been ruled by a court of law, the adoptive parents gain the same rights and responsibilities as parents whose children are born to them; subsequently, an adopted child gains the same rights as birth children in regard to inheritance, child support and other legal matters. In most U.S. jurisdictions, at the time the adoption is finalized, the adopted child's name is legally changed and the court orders the issuance of a new, amended birth certificate.
Paternity:
Paternity covers all the matters related to proving the parentage of a child or children. For married couples, paternity of a child is assumed to be the spouse, unless there is a court order or judgment stating otherwise. For unwed parents, paternity can be established by signing an Affidavit of Parentage or by filing a paternity action with the court.
Legally establishing paternity or determining that someone is not the parent of child can have a significant impact on divorce settlements, property division, child custody, child support and the ability to move out of state. Determinations of paternity can also have a significant impact on interstate conflict between unwed parents.
