Trials and appeals in state and federal courts, with a focus on:
• complex civil litigation;
• high-stakes business disputes;
• trademark, trade secret and patent enforcement;
• defamation and media-related claims;
• lawyers’ professional liability;
• white collar criminal defense and government investigations; and
• service as a neutral in Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR).
Individuals and businesses sometimes face high-dollar, high-risk problems that require resolution through trial, appeal, or alternative dispute resolution. Merritt Law, PLLC focuses on (1) the accurate assessment of risks presented by your case, (2) the development of strategies, in collaboration with you, aimed at the specific problems presented by the case, and (3) the efficient, cost-effective conduct of proceedings before courts or ADR tribunals.
Most cases, even many high-exposure disputes, do not require an army of lawyers. By focusing on the tasks essential to preparing for trial, leveraging technology, and applying client resources to the critical issues, we seek to optimize results and drive value.
Our objectives are to be capable, responsive, and efficient. Before we are engaged, we conduct a confidential preliminary assessment of the engagement with the prospective individual client or the business client’s key decision makers. We discuss available options to resolve your litigation problem. Should you choose to engage the firm, we define the scope of our engagement clearly then work to monitor the status of our work and evaluate key decisions.
We expect to work closely with each client throughout the course of our engagement. We have relationships with lawyers around the country who can team with us, and assist with research or other targeted problems as needed. We strive to maintain a paper-free environment and work on the cloud. We use outside vendors to manage large document reviews and productions.
Fees and arrangements for payment are based on our assessment of the risks of the case, the demands on our time, the level of expertise required, the resources of the adversary, and the anticipated duration of the matter. We work with clients on both hourly and non-hourly fee bases.
Craig Thomas Merritt and Braxton Hill are experienced trial lawyers. We have represented a broad range of clients in hundreds of trials and dozens of appeals conducted at every level of the Virginia and United States federal court systems.
