Appellate practice involves different skills and strategic considerations than trial practice—the focus shifts from developing and proving facts to the legal issues that decide the appeal. Thus, effective appellate advocacy demands a formulation of the problems focused on what is essential to a bench of the appellate judge deciding the case.

In formulating the issues on appeal, we help the appellate lawyer conduct thorough legal research; analyze the legal issues in light of the rule-making and policy considerations that shape the development of law; and then presents the facts and those issues and arguments selected for appeal concisely in a persuasive appellate brief

Arbitration is the cost-effective method of resolving/adjudicating disputes (primarily commercial disputes) where you choose (with the consent of your adversary): (a) the judge (the arbitrator) who will decide the dispute; (b) the procedure to be followed in resolving the conflict; (c) the costs to be incurred; (d) the time frame for adjudication; and (e) the involvement, if any, of the public court system (e.g., appeal or no appeal).

In the face of skyrocketing legal costs and court delays, trusting experienced (in both the law and the relevant factual/expert/business area in dispute) deciders/ arbitrators via the arbitration process has become progressively more rational. Hence, experienced cost conscious litigators and general counsel are frequently turning to the method they control and create: ARBITRATION.

General commercial litigation involves virtually every type of dispute that can arise in the business context, including breach of contract cases, partnership/joint venture disputes, business torts, civil claims, breach of fiduciary duty allegations, and shareholder issues. Successful commercial litigators need to assess an argument’s merits and scale, either a prosecution or defense that fits the client’s legal and business needs. Efficiency, creativity, and sound judgment are critical for intelligently positioning these disputes, whether they are “bet-the-company” cases or more discrete matters. Seasoned commercial litigators understand that at all times, they must strive to achieve the best possible result at a reasonable cost.

In the current challenging economic climate, commercial litigators are under increasing client pressure to keep costs under control. Whether the “death of the billable hour” is ultimately realized, the keys to a commercial litigator’s success will continue to be strong client relationships, thought leadership, practical management skills, deep experience, and personal commitment

In criminal law, the non-white-collar practice area spans a vast range of matters, and the need for individuals facing the threat of criminal prosecution to secure experienced counsel is great. A person facing consequences of such magnitude must retain an attorney who is qualified and experienced.
Non-white-collar offenses include homicides (ranging from intentional murder to reckless manslaughter and death-by-auto), assault, kidnapping, sexual offenses, robbery, bias crimes, arson, other property crimes, criminal mischief, burglary, theft, forgery, drug offenses, gambling, perjury, firearms violations, and other weapons offenses. Family-related offenses, such as endangering the welfare of minor and domestic violence, also fall within this group.
Non-white-collar criminal offenses also include drunk driving and a host of traffic-related violations, some carrying substantial penalties, and the possibility of incarceration.

In sum, for those charged with non-white-collar crimes and offenses, the proper selection of counsel is pivotal. A capable and experienced attorney can often mean the difference between a finding of guilt or innocence and, critically, incarceration, or freedom.

A qualified DUI/DWI lawyer may identify legal and factual defenses that can help minimize or avoid the severe penalties associated with a DUI/DWI conviction. Lawyers who limit their practice in handling DUI/DWI cases have training and experience to challenge the evidence such as blood or breath tests and roadside sobriety tests in court.

In many cases where police fail to follow proper procedures in recording or collecting evidence, a DUI/DWI Defense lawyer will have expertise in trial techniques to show that the state cannot prove the charges beyond a reasonable doubt.

An employment relationship is one of the most important relationships we experience. When a dispute arises at work, employees often have inaccurate or incomplete information. Lawyers who represent individuals in employment disputes help employees by counseling them through an existing employment situation or, more often, assessing the individual’s rights after they have experienced some adverse employment action such as discrimination, demotion, termination, and wrongful discharge, retaliation, or unlawful harassment.

Increasingly, employees are subject to restrictions on the ability to work elsewhere either through enforcement of non-compete agreements or by employer allegations of a violation of trade secret laws. An employee needs competent and experienced counsel under these circumstances to help protect the employee’s intellectual property and assist them in lawfully transition to a new employment relationship.

A lawyer representing individuals in this type of dispute should have wide-ranging knowledge of the various employment laws’ complexities and available claims. It is also imperative that the lawyer appreciates the magnitude of the situation, both financial and emotional. Employees that seek attorneys with this experience and comprehension will benefit from sound and efficient representation in what may evolve from a claim to a costly, sensitive, and complex dispute.

Employment law is the practice area of lawyers who advise employers about workplace-related issues. Regulations governing how employees are hired, managed, disciplined, and terminated are complex and continuously evolving. These laws affect companies differently depending on size, industry, and workforce makeup. Businesses must ensure that employment policies, training programs, and everyday practices comply – or risk crippling lawsuits. Employment law practices emphasize preventive counseling to minimize liability and potential business interruption for employers.
Despite the best efforts of conscientious employers to comply with the law and treat employees fairly, lawsuits can occur. Such suits present problems both obvious – large verdicts, for example – and more insidious – such as the waste of management’s time and resources which can interfere with productive, efficient business operation

Family law mediation is a voluntary process in which a couple meets with a neutral third party to address and resolve issues. The mediator provides information about the law and legal process but does not represent or advocate for either party and does not provide legal advice. The mediator assists the couple in exploring options but cannot make decisions for them. Mediation is a client-centered process to help couples reach out-of-court agreements without contested court proceedings.

Mediation is typical in divorce but also applicable in pre or post-nuptial agreements and paternity matters. Couples with low conflict and reasonably good communication may choose mediation as an efficient way to navigate and resolve family law issues. Duos having a significant disagreement or who struggle to communicate effectively may also find mediation beneficial as a means of problem-solving, reducing conflict, and breaking the impasse. Mediators should encourage and model positive communication-both speaking and listening skills. Mediators can help the parties communicate and negotiate more constructively, efficiently, and productively.

Mediation can occur with parties who have individually retained lawyers or parties who are self-represented. The parties most commonly communicate with one another directly in the presence of the mediator.

Mediation involves an interest-based approach to negotiations. Mediators should have specialized training in dispute resolution approaches and techniques. Mediators use their skills to help open and improve communication between the parties to resolve issues. Communications in mediation generally cannot be used against a party if there is subsequent litigation, which encourages open communication in the process.

Family law mediation aims to assist the parties in creating their agreements to meet their needs and children’s needs.

Information Technology Law is a transnational-based practice that addresses the issues that arise when companies develop, license, acquire, or sell information technology and computer-related products and services. Specifically, lawyers in this field typically advise clients regarding intellectual property, licensing, software, hardware, technology transfer, outsourcing, e-commerce, procurement, consulting services, internet, telecommunications, joint ventures, and strategic alliances, in each case across a broad spectrum of industries and technologies. Information Technology lawyers also counsel clients on regulatory issues involving information technology, such as export compliance, data security, domestic and international privacy regulations, directives, and standards.

Clients typically are users and providers of information technology, ranging from start-up enterprises to large multinational corporations. The lawyers work with in-house counsel and business units to structure, draft, and negotiate agreements to meet the client’s needs and appropriately address commercial risk. The contracts involve the development, commercialization, and exploitation of IT-based assets and services and are typically between users and providers of IT products and services.

For example, lawyers in the Information Technology field help structure and negotiate licenses or purchase agreements for information technology or e-commerce resources a company needs to operate its business online and offline. These types of contracts can be software license agreements, software development agreements, software as a service (“Saas”) and cloud computing agreements, computer equipment purchase agreements, OEM agreements, and data and content acquisition licenses.

Information Technology lawyers also help structure and negotiate third-party services agreements needed to run its IT infrastructure and operations. Examples of these types of arrangements are hosting agreements, hardware and software support and maintenance agreements, systems integration agreements, consulting services agreements, and outsourcing agreements for several internal IT functions, including data center management, applications development and maintenance, desktop and device support, server management, and telecommunications.

Finally, Information Technology lawyers often structure and negotiate transactions that involve the commercialization and exploitation of intellectual property, which can occur through joint ventures, strategic alliances, or the license or sale of intellectual property.

Pre Litis is one of the few go-to firms for novel and high-profile intellectual property issues. Clients seek us out for our creativity and business approach to their legal matters. Pre Litis practices all aspects of patent, trademark, copyright, and trade secret law, representing clients on IP issues related to India, USA, and European patent and trademark law. Pre Litis offers full-service IP legal and technical experience in virtually every industry and technology: biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, biologics and biosimilars, chemicals, electronics, semiconductors, computers and software, automotive, aerospace and aviation, industrial manufacturing, consumer products, medical devices, clean energy and renewables, robotics, and 3D printing.

The practice of commercial real estate litigation concerns (a) income-producing real estate properties; (b) office buildings and retail centers projects; (c) apartment buildings and condominium developments; (d) hotels; (e) industrial and specialty properties. Litigation can arise in any aspect of these projects, from acquisition and financing to development and construction to management and leasing. The disputes can be as varied as the parties and the projects themselves.

For developers, litigation can arise with land sellers over purchase and sale agreements, municipalities over zoning and entitlements, and contractors over construction bidding, cost overruns, construction defects, and delays. For lenders, litigation can arise with borrowers over loan commitments, loan defaults, associated debt and collateral recovery, junior and mezzanine lenders over subordination obligations, and mechanic lienors over priority rights the real property and loan proceeds. For property owners, disputes can arise with retail and commercial tenants over unpaid rent, repair and restoration obligations, and first refusal rights.

Disputes regularly arise out of the often-complicated and interrelated contracts of the various parties with interests in the property, and tort claims of several types may be asserted, from broad common law claims, such as fraud and tortious interference, to more real estate-specific claims, such as trespass, encroachment, and nuisance. Equitable considerations are often present because of the unique nature of natural property rights. Special insurance rights, such as title and builder’s risk policies, may be implicated.

Top-tier lawyers in the area should have a comprehensive understanding of the contractual relations, business goals, and equitable and tort concepts attendant to the entire project. Practitioners may find themselves in the state, federal or bankruptcy courts, or, particularly in construction disputes, in arbitration

Wills, Trusts and Estates Litigation proceedings encompass a variety of matters including conservatorships, guardianships, will contests, claims or defense of claims of breaches of fiduciary duties by trustees and other fiduciaries (e.g., self-dealing, conflicts of interest, breach of trust), accountings, petitions for court instructions, issues of trust modification and reformation, allegations or protection from contentions of undue influence or fraudulent conveyances, and interpretation, advocacy or defense of testamentary capacity and decedent’s intent.

Lawyers practicing in this area combine substantive expertise in the laws governing the administration of decedents’ estates, wills and intestate succession, trusts, conservator ships, guardianship, and other fiduciary issues with years of experience trying cases before the judges. Lawyers must also take a collaborative and cross-disciplinary analytical approach with other disciplines such as estate planning, real estate, bankruptcy, corporate and securities law, as well as complex civil and appellate law.

Medical malpractice is professional negligence by a health care provider through an act or by some omission whereby the care provided deviates from the accepted standards of care that governs a medical specialty or area of practice resulting in personal injury or death.

The standard of care is the legal duty that a health care provider (physician, nurse, medical technician, hospital, or clinic) owes to the patient. That duty or obligation arises from the professional relationship established with the patient. It is axiomatic that the commitment to treat or provide care could not exist without such a relationship.

Frequently the defense of these cases will focus on the fact that the law does not require a physician or health care provider to be infallible in exercising his/her clinical judgments for a patient. Indeed, the law does not require perfection on the part of anyone. Medical science has recognized that there are often unexpected, unfortunate, and even tragic outcomes that will occur, despite reasonable care. So long as there is appropriate care, there is no malpractice.

In selecting counsel for the defense of medical malpractice claims, the health care provider and his/her representative will want to ask several important questions such as:

• What is the experience of the attorney/law firm in defending these highly specialized cases?
• What is the rate of successful defense for the attorney/law firm?
• What resources does the firm possess for investigation, medical/legal research, qualified support staff, development of demonstrative evidence?
• What is the expected time frame to the conclusion of the litigation in the jurisdiction/venue?
• What involvement will the defendant have in assistance & preparation of her/his defense?

Medical malpractice is a term used to describe what occurs when inadequate medical care harms patients. Patients (or their families) can sue for medical malpractice when their injuries were caused, unnecessarily, by their doctor, nurse, hospital, or other health care providers.

To hold a caregiver liable for medical malpractice, poor care by the caregiver must be more than a mere mistake by a doctor or more than a health care provider merely’s “being human.” Malpractice occurs when the care or treatment falls below accepted community standards. Such substandard treatment is “negligent” care.

Although medical malpractice most commonly is associated with inattention or carelessness on the part of doctors and other health care professionals, the term also includes reckless or intentional misconduct, ranging from discharging a patient prematurely for financial reasons to performing surgery for which the patient has not consented to sexual assault on unconscious patients.

If the victims of such conduct or inaction can prove that the provider’s wrongdoing caused their injuries, they will be entitled to a money award to compensate them for what they have lost as a result

In a lawsuit, there are at least two parties involved — a plaintiff and a defendant. A plaintiff is a person, a personal representative, or a corporation who claims that they have been wronged and are entitled to money damages. The opposite party is a defendant; the person haled to court. The lawsuit begins when a plaintiff files a complaint. The complaint is a document that outlines the general facts of the case and Plaintiff’s theories of why he is entitled to recover damages. The complaint must be served on the defendant(s), usually by personal service or by certified mail. Through a process server, the complaint is served on the defendant with the summons. The summons notifies the defendant of the lawsuit with instructions of filing the timebound reply. The reply is a document that allows the defendant to admit or deny the complaint’s allegations.  The answer also allows a defendant to raise certain legal defenses to the complaint.

It is essential for a defendant not to ignore the deadline to answer the complaint because doing so can lead a court to decide in favor of the plaintiff and award money damages. Many times, a defendant will have insurance that covers any allegations in a complaint. For example, if the Plaintiff sues you for an auto accident, you probably have car insurance. If someone was injured on your property, you probably have homeowner’s insurance. If you believe you have insurance for the claims being made against you, immediately contact your insurance agent to report the request and provide information about the complaint. Failing to do this could result in an insurance company refusing to pay for any money damages awarded in the lawsuit. If you do not have insurance for the claims being made against you, it is crucial to contact an attorney to protect your litigation interests.

The term “personal injury” applies to a wide area of claims that arise when one party believes that his or her damages were caused by another party, resulting in a lawsuit. Examples of personal injury claims range from those involving wrongful death to defective products to motor vehicle accidents to discrimination and sexual harassment cases, as well as business torts such as breach of contract or securities fraud.

The injured party can claim monetary compensation if it proves the opposing party’s wrongful conduct.

If you think you have a personal injury case, it is essential to consult with an experienced lawyer to explore your legal rights. For example, claims can be made by individuals, by a guardian, by a decedent’s estate, depending upon the nature of the case. Key factors to consider in hiring a Personal Injury litigator are his or her willingness and ability to take your case to trial and a proven track record in obtaining settlements– whether your concern is the wrongful death of a loved one or a spinal cord injury.

The Plaintiff has the burden of proving his/her case. The more complex the issue, the more essential it is to know that your legal team has the experience and resources to give you the most significant opportunity for success, whether the issue is handling a defective tire case or a train accident. This includes the advocates’ ability to take an expert’s deposition, conduct mock trials, and present tech-savvy evidence at trial

The litigious nature of our society, coupled with an organized effort by plaintiffs’ counsel to advertise and solicit claims through TV, radio, the internet, and otherwise, has resulted in a dramatic increase of product liability claims filed in courts throughout the country. It is now commonplace for all types of products — ranging from consumer goods and workplace equipment to pharmaceuticals and medical devices — to be the subject of a product liability claim. The defendants in such a lawsuit typically include the manufacturer and distributor of the item and may extend to rebuilders, re-conditioners, sellers of parts, and others.

The essence of a product liability claim is that the product contained a defect when it left the manufacturer’s hands and that the defect caused the Plaintiff to suffer a personal injury. “Defect” in the product liability context means that there was something in the manufacturing design or warning of the product which caused the merchandise to be not reasonably fit, suitable and safe for its intended purposes. The viable legal theories depend on state law and often include negligence, strict liability, breach of express and implied warranties, and, sometimes, fraud.

The defense of a product liability claim begins with a thorough analysis of the complaint. Often, a plaintiff’s pleading lacks the specificity required to withstand a motion to dismiss. In other instances, the complaint pleads causes of action that fail as a matter of law. Depending on the law, there are also various defenses available to the defendant, including comparative negligence and the risk assumption. Product liability claims often raise complex issues and require the retention of scientific and technical experts to defend them.
The defendant should consider the following when evaluating counsel to defend a product liability claim: prior experience and demonstrated competence in the field, knowledge of the relevant product liability law, and trial experience.

At any moment during a person’s day, a product liability claim can develop. From the lead in toys that our children enjoy to the tires on our vehicles that we trust to transport our families safe, the consequences of a defective product can be devastating. The area of law that has developed to remedy these situations is called product liability. Consumers have a right to assume that the products they use are safe and reliable. When they fail and cause injury or death, a consumer has a right to file a claim against several parties in the chain that allowed the dangerous product placed on the market.

Product liability, therefore, often involves complex litigation. The nature of a product liability claim depends on the laws, product, and the variety and cause of the defect. Product defects can surface in different facets of the user experience, including defects in design, manufacturing, or even when a manufacturer fails to warn of associated dangers in the product’s use.

Moreover, liability in these cases can rest on many different parties ascending the supply chain to the original manufacturer — from the manufacturer and distributor to the supplier and retailer. After gathering all of this information, a knowledgeable attorney will determine the appropriate type of claim to be pursued, including strict liability, negligence, breach of warranty, or even fraud.

The practice of real estate law involves a varied and often highly complex set of activities centering on sales and acquisitions, title, land use, environmental, development, leasing, finance, joint ventures, restructuring and workouts, and litigation. In today’s environment, a full-service real estate law firm should be able to offer expertise in the following areas:

• Sales and Acquisitions
• Title examination
• Land Use and Environmental
• Development agreements
• Leasing
• Finance Joint Ventures
• Restructuring and Workouts
• Litigation