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Probate Litigation
Probate is the term usually used to describe the
process of settling the estate and distributing the assets of a person
who has died. Despite what you may have heard, “probate” is not
necessarily a bad word, and it is nothing to be afraid of.
However, this area of the law encompasses more area than
just a will that undergoes the probate process. It includes situations
where people pass their assets upon death through a trust and other
forms of gift or transfer. In fact it also includes people who are still
alive but who, due to some form of mental or physical disability, may
need external assistance in meeting their personal needs or in handling
their property and assets. In Arizona a person who administers the
assistance provided for another person’s personal needs is called a
guardian, while a person who administers another person’s assets and
property is called a conservator. Our estate litigation practice
extends to all these areas.
Our firm usually becomes involved when litigation arises
in a probate situation. Of course no one wants litigation, and it is our
hope you never need our services in this area. If you are fortunate
enough to avoid litigation in the probate area (and most people are), we
have referrals to other lawyers who handle the more straightforward,
non-litigation probate situations. We also have referrals to other
lawyers and financial professionals who handle wealth management and
estate planning, who can help see that your final years go smoothly and
your assets go upon death to those you choose, with the fewest tax and
other consequences.
Intellectual Property and
Licensing
Intellectual property refers to any of the forms
of protection the law offers to those who come up with ideas and
information, and includes patents, trademarks, and copyright. It also
extends into trade secrets and the area of business law known as “unfair
competition,” and such high-tech items as Internet domain names. The
ideas and information that people come up with are very often
commercialized through licensing, allowing others to take these ideas
and information and place them into the market. Intellectual property in
its more traditional forms has always been an important part of the law,
but it has really come into its own in the past few decades with the
information technology explosion.
We have expertise in all forms of intellectual property
protection and licensing. We practice in all these areas except applying
for and obtaining (also called prosecuting) patents. In that area, we
have referrals available to other legal professionals who may be able to
help you. |
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Professional Malpractice
Professional malpractice occurs when a doctor,
lawyer or other professional is negligent and harms their patient or
client. Much like drivers of automobiles that might injure you, many
(though not all) professionals carry insurance to cover their mistakes.
And just like the field of personal injury, often the victim of
professional malpractice can benefit from having an advocate to help
them through the complexities of dealing with an often embarrassed
professional and the professional’s insurance company. These aren’t
necessarily bad people, but if you have been harmed by one of them you
may deserve compensation. There can also be a personal feeling that your
trust has been breached, and we understand that, too. We can help you
deal with all of this.
Contracts and Commercial Law
Commercial law is a very broad area of the law
involving money and business activities. It has many subspecialties. We
practice in selected areas of commercial law. Because this area is so
broad, it isn’t practical to describe here all the aspects of commercial
law that we cover. If you would like to contact us with your problem or
your requirement, we can discuss whether this is an area in which we
practice, or whether we may have a referral to another attorney who can
assist you more cost-efficiently. One important part of commercial law
involves contracts, which in recent years have come to be known almost
exclusively as “agreements.” We can help with drafting and negotiating
contracts, and we can also represent you in court when contracts are
breached or otherwise fail.
Personal Injury
People are injured in accidents every day. Many, many
accidents involve automobiles, but an injury can happen almost anywhere
and result from almost anything. Not every person who is in an accident
is entitled to compensation, and the law is not a cash machine or a
lottery ticket. For that matter, despite what you may have seen in
lawyers’ commercials on TV, insurance companies are not necessarily evil
(although a few of them can seem that way, and many of them are quirky).
There are many situations where an attorney can help someone injured in
an accident navigate their way through a sometimes confusing maze of
issues. For example, an injured person often ends up negotiating not
only with an insurance company—their own or someone else’s—but also with
bill collectors from the hospitals, doctors, and medical facilities that
provided sometimes extensive and expensive care due to the accident. We
know what that’s all about. Our practice includes physical injury and
also wrongful death. It includes trucking accidents, motorcycle
accidents, and alcohol-related accidents. Many cases do settle, but we
are not afraid to go to court for you when that is necessary. |
