Environmental Law

Sexual Harassment and Employment Discrimination Attorney in New York, Philadelphia & New Jersey. Derek Smith is proud to have obtained several multi-million dollar settlements and verdicts on behalf of employees like you, who have been discriminated, tormented, and humiliated at work. Attorney Smith and his firm have obtained a $2.5 Million verdict on behalf of a woman sexual harassed by a restaurant owner. He also obtained a $1.6 Million verdict on behalf of a woman who was subject to a hostile work environment while working as a chef. He believes in becoming emotionally invested in every one of his clients, and it shows in his results.

Sexual Harassment and Employment Discrimination Attorney in New York, Philadelphia & New Jersey. Derek Smith is proud to have obtained several multi-million dollar settlements and verdicts on behalf of employees like you, who have been discriminated, tormented, and humiliated at work. Attorney Smith and his firm have obtained a $2.5 Million verdict on behalf of a woman sexual harassed by a restaurant owner. He also obtained a $1.6 Million verdict on behalf of a woman who was subject to a hostile work environment while working as a chef. He believes in becoming emotionally invested in every one of his clients, and it shows in his results.

Kevin Fitzgerald was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio and is proud of his Midwestern roots and work ethic. Although neither of his parents are attorneys, Kevin jokes that he was “raised” by plaintiffs’ lawyers. He first began working at a plaintiff’s injury law firm when he was fifteen years old and a sophomore in high school. For the ten years prior to attending law school, Kevin served as a litigation assistant at a national law practice where he worked closely with the firm’s trial team representing clients injured by asbestos-containing products. Kevin graduated with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in History and Minors in Geology and Geography from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. Kevin attended the University of Maine School of Law where he graduated with honors. During law school, he served as Editor-in-Chief of the Ocean & Coastal Law Journal. Kevin was the recipient of the American Bar Association’s Award for Excellence in Land Use and Local Government Law, an outstanding scholastic achievement award in Environmental Law, and the Horace S. Libby Memorial Scholarship. In 2015, Kevin founded the Fitzgerald Law Group, LLC where he continues to concentrate his practice in representing men, women and children injured by medical devices, prescription drugs, over-the-counter products, asbestos, and in wrongful death and serious personal injury cases. Prior to founding the Fitzgerald Law Group, LLC, Kevin worked for another national mass tort law firm for fourteen years, serving as its managing attorney from 2008 to 2015. During his career, Kevin has played an integral role in developing, commencing and litigating significant injury cases from the initial case investigation stage through trial. He has taken or defended hundreds of depositions of plaintiffs, corporate employees, liability and causation experts, sales representatives and other key witnesses. He has helped identify experts in numerous disciplines and assisted in preparing their testimony for deposition and trial. He has also served as a member of the plaintiffs’ trial team in four national pharmaceutical drug cases, including Schedin v. Ortho-McNeil Pharmaceuticals, Inc., et al. in which the jury returned a $1.6 million verdict in favor of the plaintiff. Over the last fifteen years, Kevin has represented thousands of clients in a wide array of medical device and prescription drug cases as well as other consumer protection matters including Actos, Arava, Avelox, Baycol, Bextra, Biomet Hip Implants, Byetta, Celebrex, Depuy ASR & Pinnacle Hip Implants, Effexor, Ephedra, Fen Phen, Fleet Phospho-Soda, Fosamax, Gadolinium, Levaquin, Lipitor, Mesothelioma, Mirena IUD, Nuvaring, Ortho Evra, Phenylpropanolamine (PPA), Pradaxa, Pravachol, Rezulin, Risperdal, Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs), Stadol, Stryker Rejuvenate & ABGII Hip Implants, Talcum Powder, Testosterone Replacement Therapy (“Low-T”), Transvaginal Mesh, Trovan, Viagra, Vioxx, Xarelto, Yaz, Zicam, Zimmer Hip Implants, Zithromax, Zofran, Zoloft, Zometa and Zyprexa. In addition to pharmaceutical and medical device cases, Kevin has experience handling wrongful death, personal injury, data breach, Fair Debt Collection Practice Act (FDCPA), and consumer protection cases. Kevin lives in Portland, Maine with his wife, who is also a lawyer, and their three children. The family are members of Our Lady of Hope Parish in Portland. When he is not working late, he enjoys cooking, hiking and fishing throughout the State of Maine, coaching youth athletics, and cheering on his favorite Cleveland sports’ teams.

Grant’s Law Firm is uniquely positioned to advise individuals, start-ups and small business clients, to offer them premium, individualized legal services without a premium price. We use advanced office techniques and technologies to reduce staffing needs and employ other cost-saving measures to reduce our overhead. When you need a practitioner with a very specialized focus, we retain experienced colleagues having that particular expertise on a contract basis. Thus, our clients receive large firm, top-notch legal advice, but at reasonable small firm prices. The cornerstone of our success is the quality relationships that we maintain with clients. Grant’s Law Firm can help you form and file your business structure from start to finish, whether you have selected a corporation, a limited liability company (LLC), or a partnership. We recognize that business owners are not only concerned with the everyday operations of their business, but with also having to prepare for its future. We are dedicated to providing hands-on, client-focused service to the people and businesses of Riverside County, Orange County, and Los Angeles County.

Simmons and Fletcher, P.C., my law firm, has been a trusted name in Houston since the 1970's. We proudly represent the little guys against big insurance companies and corporations. I earned my law degree and passed the bar in 1995. I immediately began my practice in personal injury trial law with Simmons and Fletcher, P.C. as a trail attorney. I became Board Certified in Personal Injury Trial Law in 2005 in Texas. I have received recognition as a “Top Lawyer” by H Texas Magazine in 2013 and was most recently named A Texas Super Lawyer by Texas Monthly's Super v Meragazine. I earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy from the University of Texas in 1992 and earned my Juris Doctorate from South Texas College of Law in 1995. While in school, I was a member of the Phi Delta Phi Honorary Legal Fraternity, the Student Bar Association Student Concerns Committee, and the Houston Young Lawyer’s Association Environmental Committee.

Bill Hopkins was born and raised in Bishopville, South Carolina. He attended North Carolina State University where he received his B.S. degree in Textile Chemistry in 1988. After graduation, Bill worked for nearly three years for Springs Industries, Inc., a large textile company, at a dyeing and finishing plant in Lancaster, South Carolina. Bill was working as a third shift superintendent at the time he was accepted into law school at the University of South Carolina. During law school, Bill served as the Research Editor for the South Carolina Environmental Law Journal. It was also during law school that he began clerking for the law firm of Whaley, McCutchen, Blanton & Rhodes, LLP, one of the oldest and most prestigious litigation firms in South Carolina, which had originally been founded in 1936. Bill continued to work at the firm after graduation and ultimately became a partner in the firm and then was elected Managing Partner in 2005. Bill and the firm were selected by South Carolina Attorney General Henry McMaster to represent the State of South Carolina in lawsuits brought against several pharmaceutical companies regarding their reporting of false and inflated prices for drugs which resulted in overpayments by the State Medicaid and State Health Plan programs, known as the AWP litigation. Bill remained as the Managing Partner until December 31, 2007 when the firm dissolved after 71 years of continuous practice. Bill founded and started a new law firm called McCutchen Blanton Hopkins & Campbell, LLP, where he continued to practice with Thomas McCutchen and Hoover Blanton, two of the most well known leaders and stewards of the South Carolina Bar. Bill ran this law firm until November 1, 2010, when he joined the national law firm Beasley Allen Crow Methvin Portis & Miles, P.C. in Mongomery, Alabama in the Consumer Fraud section with an emphasis and focus on class action litigation. Bill has been active in various bar associations and organizations, including the South Carolina Bar. At the time he joined Beasley Allen, Bill was serving on the Professional Responsibility Committee and the Conventions Committee of the South Carolina Bar. Bill is currently serving as the Co-Chairman of the Class Action Litigation Group of the American Association for Justice. Bill served as the Chairman of the Employment Rights Section of the South Carolina Association for Justice for three years. In 2010 Bill Hopkins was elected to the South Carolina Chapter of the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA), which is a distinct recognition and privilege. ABOTA is a national organization of both plaintiff and defense trial attorneys which is committed to the preservation of trial by jury. To be eligible for consideration, an attorney must have tried at least 20 civil jury trials to jury verdict as lead counsel. Bill has tried over 70 civil cases to jury verdict as sole or lead counsel, in areas such as personal injury, business torts, fraud, products liability, trade secrets, unfair trade practices, insurance matters and employment. Bill has also had an active appellate practice and has argued 8 cases before the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, including an en banc argument in the case of Ocheltree v. Scollon Productions, Inc., a seminal case regarding the law of sexual harassment, in which many organizations (including the EEOC) made appearances and submitted amicus briefs, and which case was the subject of numerous articles, including an article in the New York Times. Bill has also argued several cases before the South Carolina Court of Appeals and the South Carolina Supreme Court. Bill has also developed a successful class action practice, being appointed by several different courts as lead counsel or liaison counsel in many different class action cases.

James N. Scarff, II, is a transplant from Jackson, Mississippi, where he was born and raised. After high school he initially played football at the University of Mississippi until an injury ended his football career. He then transferred to Millsaps College in Jackson, Mississippi where he would receive his Bachelor of Business Administration Degree in May 2003. Shortly thereafter, James received his Master of Business Administration degree from Millsaps College in May 2005. While at Millsaps College he received the Millsaps Award, Endowed Scholarship, and the Dean’s Scholarship. In August of 2005, James began law school at Mississippi College School of Law in Jackson, Mississippi. While in law school, James was a member of the Environmental Law Society and one of the founding members of the Sports & Entertainment Law Society, while managing to stay on the Dean’s List. After graduating in the top quarter of his law school class, James went to work for The Penton Law Firm out of Bogalusa, Louisiana where he practiced Mass Tort Litigation. His firm also served on the Plaintiff Steering Committee (PSC) for those harmed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. His main focus at the firm was global pharmaceutical settlements and Multi-District Litigation (MDL). Those cases included Vytorin, Vioxx, Celebrex, Viagra, DPC Arizona, and other mass tort actions. Over $400 million in settlement funds was distributed. In June 2009, James moved back home to his roots in Jackson, MS and started his own practice. At Scarff Law Firm, LLC, James took on personal injury cases, domestic/family law cases, DUI, criminal defense, and business transactions. At that time, he was also general counsel for three separate businesses. While continuing his own practice, James became a trial lawyer associate at The McRae Law Firm, PLLC, in May 2012 and worked on briefing appeals to the Mississippi Supreme Court as well as Federal Court in the Northern and Southern Districts of Mississippi. In December 2015, James reconnected with his old high school sweetheart who had moved to Omaha, Nebraska after college. After a brief courtship, he married Emily Knight Scarff in May 2017 and promptly moved to Omaha, Nebraska. Where he shares a blended family with his wife. He has two step-sons, Hayden and Hudson Koesters, and a new addition to the Scarff Family came in September 2018, Colt Hayes Scarff. James also has a daughter, Emery Rose Scarff, who resides with her mother back in Mississippi.

The Law Offices of Attorney Patricia (Pat) Cresta-Savage offers clients the advantage of an experienced attorney with over 20 years of advisory and courtroom litigation experience providing independent legal representation in civil actions, civil rights, and criminal defense. She is a licensed member of the bar in DC, MD and NH, and can represent clients in several different courts. In CRIMINAL DEFENSE, she has effectively represented those charged in Maryland, the District of Columbia, and New Hampshire with many different types and degrees of crimes, including but not limited to serious offenses such as: felony murder, assault with intent to kill, armed robbery, carjacking, possession and/or distribution of controlled substances, felon in possession of firearms, embezzlement, credit card fraud, as well as lesser criminal charges of many kinds. In CIVIL RIGHTS, she has successfully represented clients in civil actions concerning police brutality, gender discrimination, sexual harassment, race discrimination, and employment law. She was co-counsel in a landmark Maryland decision concerning the unconstitutional retroactive application of sex offender registration law: Doe v. Department of Public Safety & Correctional Services, 430 Md. 535, 62 A.3d 123 (2013)

Henry David Thoreau said it best by stating, “the mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation, and go to the grave with the song still in them.” Robert (“Rob”) Titus is one of the rare people that will die with no songs left in his heart. A natural extrovert with a passion for the courtroom, Rob’s greatest asset is his ability to connect with people. Out of law school, Rob worked at one of the biggest oil companies in America as a landman. He ended up as in-house counsel in Kansas working for a top-ten oil producer. The great oil crash of 2015 hit the country hard, and Rob especially. He left the oil business and joined a firm that specialized in suing gas companies. In three years, Rob assisted several royalties owners to achieve multi-million dollar settlements for underpayment of natural gas royalties, with his efforts culminating in a ten-million-dollar settlement on behalf of a class of royalty owners in three Colorado counties. After spending time in private practice, Rob saw a disturbing trend. Far too many of the litigants he saw in court were self-represented. Worse still, most of them could achieve their case goals with quality representation, but could not afford a lawyer. Then Rob considered creating a law firm that would eschew the traditional model and bring legal service to everyone. And out of the desire to buck the trend, Titus Law Firm, LLC was born. Rob lives in Kansas City with his wife Abby, his two children, Lily and Lincoln, and their two Labrador retrievers. You will find him with his kids exploring the lakes and hiking trails of Kansas and Missouri. He is a published author and a proud graduate of the University of Texas English Honors Program. When he is not at work, you will find Rob at a Texas football game, always mistakenly believing that this will be the year Texas brings in a title (it has been a long, dark decade that Rob has nicknamed “the Wilderness”).

Born in the tiny coal-mining community of Williamson and raised in Parkersburg, West Virginia, by blue-collar working-class parents who placed a premium on hard work, honesty, and personal integrity, Bernie Layne of Mani Ellis & Layne, PLLC learned from an early age that his path to success would have to be paved with over achievement. While both of his parents grew up in abject poverty that can only be understood or imagined by those who have experienced day-to-day life in ‘coal camp’ housing in southern West Virginia, they became acutely aware of the value and necessity of education and sweat equity as a means of rising above their circumstance. It is from this culture and environment that Bernie’s parents instilled in him, and his two sisters, to never forget where they have come from and to always use their God-given talents and abilities to help people around them who are disadvantaged, hurting, disabled, destitute, or who are being abused by those in a more powerful position than themselves in society. Growing up in Parkersburg, just across the river from Marietta and Belpre, Ohio, he gained a deep, abiding respect for the hardworking people on both sides of the border. Rising from the social position of an ‘underdog,’ it isn’t hard to understand how Bernie has come to embrace these roots by becoming a highly successful legal advocate and defender of the rights of injured working-class West Virginians and Ohioans. A Strong Competitive Spirit As you can imagine, it takes tremendous family support and lots of competitive spirit to become one of only a few college graduates in his family and to become the first lawyer in his immediate or extended family. That love for competition was introduced to him as a child, by his father, an accomplished sportswriter at the Williamson Daily News. Bernie developed a love for the game of basketball and baseball and eventually earned a baseball scholarship to attend the University of Charleston in Charleston, West Virginia. As a college student-athlete, Bernie was introduced to the importance of academic and athletic discipline, teamwork, handling success and overcoming failure. As his dream of playing professional baseball faded, his commitment to personal development and higher education strengthened. Before leaving UC, Bernie was named the Ivor F. Boiarsky Award Winner, which annually recognizes the top Political Science Student in the graduating class, won a statewide award for his senior thesis, in the area of Public Law Policy, on the pitfalls and environmental evils associated with an inadequate and corrupt strip mine permitting system in West Virginia, was voted by his peers as the Student Body President and was chosen by the administration to deliver the commencement address on behalf of his graduating class, while sharing the stage with the late Senator Robert C. Byrd. Inspired to help the disadvantaged Using his undergraduate success as a springboard, Bernie went on to attend graduate school at The Ohio University, where he received a Master of Arts Degree in Sociology. After graduate school, Bernie returned to Appalachia where he worked with elderly and disabled individuals through the Title 19 Medicaid Waiver Program in Southern West Virginia. The year spent working with catastrophically injured people through Title 19 firmed his resolve and commitment to make a difference in the lives of the hardworking citizens of this state. This experience made Bernie aware of the obstacles that face disabled and poverty-stricken individuals and the myriad of statutory and legal hurdles they face, while unable to afford adequate legal assistance to address their needs. Bernie’s disappointment in the legal system and its treatment of handicapped, disabled, and elderly individuals led him to attend law school at The University of Dayton School of Law where he graduated with his Juris Doctor in the Spring of 1999. After finishing law school, Bernie remained in Dayton as a judicial extern for The Honorable Barbara Gorman, the first female judge of the Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas. In the years following his law school graduation, Bernie has remained committed to preserving the rights of injured and disadvantaged citizens of our state and has limited his practice to cases which involve people who have been injured due to the negligence of another person, corporation or governmental body. Throughout his career, he has successfully taken on big corporate asbestos producers who exposed plant workers and pipefitters to deadly and cancer-causing asbestos fibers. He has successfully confronted coal mining companies that deliberately injured workers through a neglect of OSHA regulations and state laws designed to protect this state’s workers. Further, Bernie has successfully resolved wrongful death cases involving children, medical malpractice and poorly designed products by large corporate interests who chose to place profits as a priority over the safety of our citizens. In 2021, Mani, Ellis & Layne, PLLC expanded to a new office in Columbus, OH. For Bernie, who earned both of his graduate degrees in Ohio and has many close family members in Columbus and the surrounding towns, this was a homecoming of sorts, an opportunity to advocate for hardworking people throughout both Ohio and West Virginia. Recognized by his peers Bernie’s success and achievement have been greatly rewarded as he and his partners have built an accomplished law firm at Mani Ellis & Layne, PLLC. His professional attributes and success have also been noticed by his trial lawyer peers. In 2005, he was given the Distinguished Service Award by the West Virginia Association for Justice (WVAJ), which is a group that represents the interests of the injured and disabled in West Virginia. Attorney Layne has been a member of WVAJ and the American Association for Justice for more than a decade. He is past president of WVAJ, serving from June 2013 to June 2014. He has also served on the WVAJ Executive Committee (nine years), the WVAJ Board of Governors and as a member of the LAWPAC organization. He was recently invited to join the prestigious, Southern Trial Lawyers organization and has been apponted to The Charleston Coliseum & Convention Center where he serves on its Executive and Building & Grounds Committees. Additionally, he served a two-year stint as a member of the West Virginia Bar Association’s Judicial Campaign Advertising Committee, which sought to regulate unfair, unethical and untruthful advertising during judicial campaign election cycles. In 2013, he was appointed to the University of Charleston Board of Trustees and served on the Executive and Outreach Committees within that board. He is now serving his twelfth year on the board. In 2014, he was named Alumnus of the Year at the University of Charleston. In 2017, he was appointed chairman of the Welch Challenge Campaign, an $8 million fund-raising initiative at the school. Also in 2013, Mr. Layne received an AV rating from Martindale-Hubbell, which is the highest rating attorneys can achieve from that organization. Only 2% of all practitioners nationwide earn that rating. In 2018, Bernie was selected to the West Virginia Super Lawyers list by his peers. Bernie has obtained several significant verdicts and settlements and has been granted membership in the Million Dollar Advocates Forum and the Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum. On a community level, Bernie recently completed a seven-year term on the Putnam County Career and Technical Center’s Healthcare Advisory Board, on which he worked with other community leaders to design, implement and guide the LPN Nursing Program at the school. His efforts in this area are consistent with his desire to work toward broad based community and rural health care initiatives which support healthcare for the underprivileged throughout our state’s communities.