What type of litigation headaches do small businesses face today? There appears to be a large amount of litigation in this Country these days - and businesses are no exception. Huge corporations have the luxury of having "in house" litigation teams - something that can't fit into the budget of the small to medium sized companies. In addition, small to medium sized companies certainly don't get excited about using huge expensive law firms to handle small business litigation the same way those huge law firms handle the litigation for big corporations. Nevertheless, small and medium sized businesses find themselves in unwanted litigation that requires lawyers who "know the courthouse." These business find themselves in litigation involving:

  • Lease disputes
  • Real property sale disputes
  • Collection on unpaid invoices
  • Contract disputes
  • Broker disputes
  • Promissory note disputes
  • Personnel and employee disputes

Small and medium sized businesses get very concerned that they are going to spend more on the lawyers and litigation expenses than they could by paying off their adversary (by throwing in the towel).

It is this catch-22 situation that calls for the legal services that our small firm can provide.

What we've done and what we can do for your business litigation needs? Our firm was founded by a former County Prosecutor who has litigated and tried many many cases - and still does. While we do a fair amount of litigation in the areas of criminal justice, personal injury and domestic relations, we also have been involved in a fair amount of business litigation over the last 13 years. We have represented and/or still represent a number of small business in cases such as:

  • successfully helping a Northeast Ohio company collect over $1,000,000.00 in unpaid invoices;
  • successfully helping a Cleveland bank collect on tens of thousands of dollars of account frauds;
  • successfully preventing our client from getting a cognovit judgment rendered against him by novel litigation methods;
  • successfully helping a local gas station owner defend against a lawsuit brought by a national ATM company;
  • successfully helping a local kitchen cabinet/appliance company collect tens of thousands of bad debts;
  • successfully helping a small business woman re-acquire her company from some investors who sought to take the company from her;
  • successfully defending a Northeast Ohio company from a bogus wrongful discharge claim by a former employee;
  • successfully assisting a minority woman in defending against a group of dedicated males who believed they could intimidate her by a lawsuit and arson;
  • successfully assisting a real estate owners in getting a bad tenants out of their buildings;
  • successfully defending a small store owner from harassment by city officials; and
  • resolving a claim filed against a small technology company.

What we have learned is that, due to our vast experience in litigation in the other areas in which we concentrate, we know how to litigate in these areas better than any larger law firm. Our firm knows that the following things are very important or annoying to small and medium sized businesses:

  • getting nickel and dimed on pesky expenses like silly "administrative" costs; small copy costs; fax charges; and postage;
  • not getting regular monthly detailed billings;
  • not being able to speak to the lawyer on your case;
  • having younger, just-out-of-school, lawyers "learning" litigation on your money;
  • lawyers who overwork simple cases in order to generate big hours and fees (rather than concentrate on saving the client money - the ultimate goal of all litigation)

We don't do any of this and will never do any of this. The only time that you see copy costs on our bills is after the client and us have agreed that the extra cost would be the client's costs (this is rare). We never charge for faxes, and we really have no idea what the heck an "administrative" cost is. We never charge for postage. We prepare and mail out detailed monthly billings so that the client knows what the litigation is costing as the litigation goes along - and knows what exactly is going on in the litigation. Our clients always can always speak with us - by phone or email - at all times of the day (our firm motto is that "We Never Close"). All of our litigation is micro-supervised by attorney Michael O'Shea - the founding member of the firm. Before we ever sink large amounts of time and expenses into a litigation matter, we clear it with the client first - with absolute sensitivity to what the litigation is costing and going to cost the client. To us, there is simply no other way to do it.

Let's discuss your business litigation case. When you come to our office, we discuss what we think can be done and our hourly fees - up front. First time clients get a "check-them-out" rate to see if you like what we can do for you. We will provide you whatever references you require and clearly show you that we have the professional malpractice insurance to cover whatever matter we handle for you.

After all, you're the client.