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Trial lawyers. Not settlement mills.

Free confidential consultation. No fee unless we recover — and we tell you honestly if you do not have a case. Four practice areas, three attorneys who each try their own files, and a written status update every thirty days from the day you sign.

Consultations are confidential whether or not the firm is retained.

Practice areas

Four areas. Nothing outside them.

A firm that claims twelve practice areas has three lawyers guessing at nine of them. These are the four we try, and when a matter falls outside them we say so on the first call and give you two names who do it properly.

01

Personal injury

Vehicle collisions, premises liability and wrongful death, handled on contingency from intake through trial. We reconstruct the scene with our own engineer rather than relying on the police report, and we file suit early so the defense is negotiating against a trial date instead of a demand letter.

  • Own accident reconstruction
  • Life-care plans for catastrophic injury
  • Suit filed inside 90 days where liability is clear
02

Employment

Wrongful termination, discrimination and unpaid wage claims, including class and collective actions. Most matters start with a charge before the agency, and we handle that stage ourselves rather than farming it out, because the record built there is the record you litigate on two years later.

  • Agency charge drafted in-house
  • Collective actions under the FLSA
  • Severance review on a flat fee
03

Business litigation

Contract disputes, partnership dissolution and non-compete defense for closely held companies. Budgets are set by phase and revised in writing before each one begins, so the second invoice is never the surprise that ends the working relationship.

  • Phase budgets agreed in advance
  • Expedited injunction practice
  • Forensic accounting on dissolutions
04

Appeals

Post-trial motions and appellate briefing, including matters tried by other firms. We read the full transcript before quoting, and we will tell you when the preserved record cannot support the argument you want to make — which is more often than most appellate pitches admit.

  • Full transcript review before engagement
  • Preservation audit of the trial record
  • Amicus coordination where it helps
Case results

The ledger, not the highlights.

Seven matters resolved in the last four years, listed with the venue so they can be checked against the public docket.

Selected verdicts and settlements by amount, matter, venue and year
AmountMatterVenueYear
$8.4MWrongful death — commercial truckSuperior Court, jury verdict2025
$4.1MTraumatic brain injury — premisesSuperior Court, settled at trial2024
$2.75MClass action — unpaid overtimeU.S. District Court2024
$1.9MRetaliatory dischargeSuperior Court, jury verdict2023
$1.2MPartnership dissolutionChancery, bench trial2023
$860KRear-end collision — spinal fusionPre-suit settlement2022
ReversedNon-compete injunction vacatedCourt of Appeals2022

Prior results do not guarantee or predict a similar outcome. Every case turns on its own facts, its own venue and its own insurance limits. Amounts shown are gross recoveries before fees, costs and any liens.

The attorneys

Three lawyers. Each tries their own files.

You will meet the lawyer handling your matter at the consultation, not a case manager who hands the file on afterwards. Admissions and years in practice are listed because those are the facts that can be verified with the bar.

MH

Margaret Hartwell

Trial practice — injury & wrongful death

24 years in practice

Bar admissions
  • State Bar, 2002
  • U.S. District Court, Northern & Southern Divisions
  • U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit

Has tried thirty-one cases to verdict, which is why the carriers on the other side price her files differently.

DV

Daniel Vance

Employment & collective actions

19 years in practice

Bar admissions
  • State Bar, 2007
  • U.S. District Court, all divisions
  • Certified mediator, employment panel

Spent six years defending employers before switching sides, so he knows what the other file looks like.

PO

Priya Okonkwo

Appellate & business litigation

12 years in practice

Bar admissions
  • State Bar, 2014
  • Court of Appeals, all districts
  • State Supreme Court

Clerked for two years on the Court of Appeals and still writes every brief the firm files herself.

Process

What happens after you call.

I

Intake call

Fifteen minutes on the phone, usually the same day. You describe what happened; we ask for dates, names and any deadline that may already be running.

You bring dates and documents.

II

Case assessment

A lawyer — not a screener — reviews the file and calls you back with a straight answer on liability, likely value and the limitations period.

We call back within two business days.

III

Engagement letter

If there is a case, the fee, the costs and who advances them are set out in writing before you sign anything. Nothing starts on a handshake.

You sign only after reading it.

IV

Investigation

Records requested, witnesses interviewed, scene documented, experts retained. You get a written status update every thirty days whether or not there is news.

We report every thirty days.

“They told me at the first meeting that two of my three claims were weak and that they would not be filing them. Nobody else had been that direct. The one they did file settled for more than I had been told to expect anywhere else.”
R. Delacroix — Employment matter, 2024
“Eleven months of monthly updates, every one of them on time, including the months where the answer was that nothing had moved. That is the part I remember more than the verdict.”
T. Almeida — Injury matter, 2023
Consultation

Four fields. That is the whole form.

Confidentiality

What you tell us is confidential whether or not you retain the firm. Sending this form does not by itself create an attorney-client relationship — that begins when a signed engagement letter is in place — but the information you send is treated as privileged from the moment it arrives.

The fee

Injury and employment matters run on contingency: no fee unless there is a recovery, with the percentage and who advances case costs written down before you sign. Business and appellate work is hourly or flat fee, budgeted by phase.

If there is no case

You will be told so plainly, on the first call, with the reason. We would rather lose the file than sign a claim we know will not survive summary judgment.

Confidential
24/7 intake

Or call (555) 720-4400. Do not send time-sensitive information through this form if a deadline is within seven days — call instead.

Common questions

Asked on nearly every first call.

These are the five questions that come up before anyone asks about the law itself. The answers here are the same ones you will get on the phone.

What does a consultation cost?

Nothing, and it is confidential whether or not you retain the firm. You will get a straight answer about whether the claim is worth pursuing, including when the answer is that it is not.

How does the fee work?

Injury and employment matters are contingency — no fee unless there is a recovery. Business matters are hourly or flat fee, agreed in writing first, with a phase budget you approve before each phase begins.

How long will my case take?

It depends on whether it settles or tries. You will get a realistic range at the consultation, not an optimistic one. Injury matters that settle typically resolve in nine to eighteen months; cases that go to verdict run two years or longer.

Is there a deadline I should worry about?

Almost always. Limitations periods vary by claim type and can be as short as six months where a public entity is involved. Call before you research it — the clock is the one thing we cannot fix later.

Who will actually handle my file?

One of the three attorneys named on this page, with a paralegal assigned to your matter. You get both direct lines. Files are not passed to a contract lawyer you have never spoken to.