Education

Sam G. Caras (samcaras@caraslaw.com) was born and raised in Dayton, Ohio. After a youth marked by participation in sports, Sam attended Wright State University, from which he graduated cum laude. During his last two years of undergraduate education he worked as a legislative aid for the Honorable C. J. McLin, and as a laborer in several industrial plants. Sam enrolled in the University of Dayton Law School in 1977 and graduated in 1980. During law school he enjoyed the privilege to clerk for the Honorable George J. Gounaris of the Civil Division of the Montgomery County Common Pleas Court for three years, while working part-time for two years with the City of Dayton Prosecutor's Office. Following graduation from law school he entered into private practice as an associate in an insurance defense firm, focusing on civil litigation defense of motor vehicle accidents, products liability, insurance, and professional liability cases. For several years after becoming partner in the insurance defense firm his practice concentration increasingly developed in plaintiff's personal injury and wrongful death. In 1990 he left the insurance defense practice and has since been practicing almost exclusively in the areas of medical and professional malpractice, wrongful death, serious personal injury, insurance litigation, with periodic referrals for business and contract litigation. Sam has practiced before all levels of Ohio courts, including successful arguments before the Ohio Supreme Court. He also has extensive experience in federal practice, particularly including practice before the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, United States Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, along with pro hac vice admissions in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama and U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida.

Known today as the "People of PA's Lawyer" or PoPAL for short. Attorney Levine has helped hundreds if not thousands of Pennsylvanians literally across this Great State of Pennsylvania achieve successful results to whatever Probate and Estate Administration matter put forth to Counselor Levine.Having successful outcomes in virtually every PA County, Attorney Levine knows the challenges Pennsylvanians face whether they be in Probate, Estate Administration or Estate Real Estate.One reason Brian has been dubbed PoPAL is his uncanny success with extremely challenging and extremely complex Estates most Attorney's would not touch or if they did soon realizing this Estate is too complex. Thus the People of PA have come to rely on his ability to help in the most difficult of circumstances.Brian's Clients come from all walks-of-life whether they be high net worth individuals or regular ole folk... All are Pennsylvanians or have ties to Pennsylvania who are in need of a helping hand, some guidance, assistance resolving a challenge with probating, executing or administering an Estate or any other Probate or Estate circumstance requiring counsel -- Brian has and will continue providing impeccable service to all with ties to the Commonwealth of PA. Mr. Levine founded the law firm in 2007 after undertaking judicial clerkships with trial court judges from the Lawrence County Court of Common Pleas from 2005-2006. He has also gained experience as a court-appointed criminal attorney for Lawrence County and Butler County Courts of Common Pleas where he has represented over 500 criminal clients. Mr. Levine has conducted legal seminars on estate planning and business planning for various nursing homes, businesses, and organizations located throughout Pennsylvania. He has taught CLE (continuing legal education) classes to other attorneys and insurance agents throughout Pennsylvania concerning title insurance and real estate closings. In his private practice, he utilizes an entrepreneurial, cutting-edge approach to lawyering. Other attorneys and business professionals enjoy working with Mr. Levine due to his good will, common sense, and direct communication. Mr. Levine, a third generation attorney, is a member of the Pennsylvania Bar Association, Real Property Trust and Probate section; Lawrence County Bar Association; and Lawrence County Board of Arbitrators. Brian received his J.D. from West Virginia University College of Law, Morgantown, WV (2002-2005), and was an active and honored member of Moot Court. He graduated with high honors from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI (1998-2002).

During the course of his career Attorney Aaron Rihn has helped his clients recover in excess of $40 million dollars in verdicts and settlements. He has tried cases to verdict in both Pennsylvania and West Virginia, and argued before a number of the highest appellate courts including both the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals and 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. Mr. Rihn leads the firm in complex litigation matters, including class actions, wage and hour collection actions, pharmaceutical cases, civil rights cases, and other product liability cases, as well as appellate matters. Mr. Rihn was appointed to the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee in the Federal Prempro MDL. He has been selected as a Top 100 Trial Lawyer by the National Trial Lawyers Association, and is a former Pennsylvania Super Lawyer Rising Star. Aaron is also a member of both the Million Dollar Advocates Forum and the Multimillion Dollar Advocates Forum. Aaron wanted to be an attorney ever since he saw Gregory Peck in To Kill a Mockingbird. Atticus Finch has likely been an inspiration to generations of lawyers who are the conscious of the nation, and, along with the press, the best and last defense against tyranny. Aaron approaches his practice by getting to know his clients and understanding their motivations and expectations. He is dedicated to treating each and every one of his clients with respect, regardless of their background or education, and is very passionate about the law, and about his clients. Attorney Rihn tries to infuse that passion into everything he does - to resonate with a jury. Aaron grew up in Tarentum, Pennsylvania, a mill town just north of Pittsburgh. Like many other working parents, his free time is spent hopping from extracurricular activity to extracurricular activity with his three children, and he loves every second of it.

Attorney Anthony Piccirilli is a family law and divorce attorney serving clients in the Pittsburgh area. He is passionate about helping individuals and families understand the intricacies that are involved in domestic matters, and he is dedicated to fighting for each client to receive a fair outcome in their case. Attorney Piccirilli knew he was destined for a career in law after hearing Supreme Court Justice Alito speak at a commencement ceremony on the importance of lawyers being soldiers in the fight for justice. Anthony’s desire to help families stems from a great need he saw that in family law; when people were dealing with the worst days of their lives, having the right counsel in their corner could make all the difference. He wanted to be that difference, and continues to help clients with a variety of family and domestic issues to this day. With internship experience working on PFS and divorce matters and time as a law clerk working in general practice, in addition to a well-rounded education at Ramapo College of New Jersey and the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, attorney Piccirilli has the skills and knowledge necessary to help you with a variety of legal issues.

Steven F. Fairlie has been designated a Pennsylvania “SuperLawyer” in both Personal Injury and Criminal Defense and placed on their lists of the Top 100 Lawyers in Pennsylvania for more than a decade straight, The National Trial Lawyers Top 100 Trial Lawyers, Top Rated Attorneys in Pennsylvania as published in The Wall Street Journal, Philadelphia Inquirer, and the The Legal Intelligencer, The National Advocacy for DUI Defense Top 100 Driving Under the Influence (DUI) Attorneys, and is a holder of Martindale-Hubbell’s prestigious “AV” rating and Client Distinction Award, designating preeminent lawyers based upon legal ability, ethics, and client satisfaction. He has been rated a perfect 10.0/10.0 on AVVO.COM and is one of a just 35 attorneys in Pennsylvania to be named a “Lawyer on the Fast Track” by The Legal Intelligencer in 2006. He has been named a Fellow of the Litigation Counsel of America (awarded to less than one-half percent of judges, lawyers, and scholars in America), received the National Academy of Criminal Defense Attorneys Top 10 Attorney Award, and been named a Top 100 Criminal Defense Lawyer by the American Society of Legal Advocates. He has won many other awards for his trial work that are simply too numerous to list here. He has successfully handled numerous civil (slip and fall, auto accidents, land development litigation, etc.) and criminal trials (narcotics, DUI, capital murder, robbery, rape, etc.). Prior to private practice, he worked on the Narcotics Team and the Major Crimes Team of the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office from 1996 to 2000. He successfully argued for the death penalty in 1999 and was lead prosecutor in a case involving $55 million of cocaine. Subsequently, as a defense attorney, he took the appeal of a client sentenced to death and convinced the prosecutor to vacate the death sentence. He used forensic tire print evidence to prove another client not guilty of attempted murder. In yet another case he uncovered evidence which reduced the offer on a robbery case from 25–50 years down to 2 years probation. He represented one individual charged with 3 separate charges of DUI and had the first case dismissed at the Preliminary Hearing, the second accepted into the A.R.D. program, and the third case dismissed after a trial judge granted suppression of all evidence in the case. Mr. Fairlie has obtained not-guilty verdicts in major jury trials involving shootings, burglaries, rape, etc. despite positive eyewitness identifications of his clients. On appeal, he has successfully argued for reversal of a death sentence in one case and a sentence of 70 years in another case. Recent successful plea negotiations include 2 1/2 to 5 years in the case of a man who struck his wife in the head with a hammer and strangled her and 6 to 12 years in a First Degree Murder case. Mr. Fairlie went to trial on a case involving more than $50 million of land transactions and settled the case in the second week of trial. He has obtained six-figure settlements in numerous personal injury cases, including car accident, back injury, and dog bite cases. Mr. Fairlie often serves as a speaker or course planner for various organizations such as the Pennsylvania Bar Institute’s Annual (2007–2025) Criminal Law Symposium in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, the Pennsylvania Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, the Montgomery and Bucks County Bar Associations, and various law enforcement training programs. He also teaches numerous other continuing legal education seminars for lawyers every year. He earned his B.A. in Government and Law from Lafayette College in 1991 and his J.D. from The Dickinson School of Law in 1995 where he was a member of the Appellate Moot Court Board, the Environmental Law Journal, and a Chairman of the Student Bar Association. He has been Co-Chairman or Chairman of the Montgomery County Bar Association’s Criminal Defense Committee since 2001, a member of the Montgomery County Bar Association’s Judiciary Committe and Trial Lawyers’ Section, a member of the Pennsylvania Bar Association’s Professionalism Committee and Civil Litigation Section, a member of the Pennsylvania Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers Hotline Panel of Experts Committee, a member of the Montgomery County Sexual Assault Task Force, a member of The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and an Associate Member of the Philadelphia Bar Association. Mr. Fairlie’s areas of practice include personal injury, car accidents, criminal defense, and DUI defense. Mr. Fairlie enjoys scuba-diving, hunting, fishing and coaching youth sports.

Ted Lyon was born and raised in Terrell, Texas. His undergraduate degree is in political science that he obtained from East Texas State University (now known as Texas A&M Commerce). Prior to law school, Ted married his high school sweetheart, Donna. While working as a police officer, he put himself through undergraduate school and then went to Southern Methodist University School of Law. Over the past 41 years, Ted has represented clients in over 150 jury trials. Ted has over 41 years’ experience representing clients in complex litigation, involving personal injury, wrongful death, products liability, and business disputes. He has received verdicts that were ranked in the top ten in the nation on three occasions. He has been interviewed and featured by national and local media outlets, including Good Morning America, 60 Minutes II, NBC Dateline, Texas Lawyer, Dallas Observer, The National Law Journal, D Magazine, and Texas Monthly. Ted specializes in complex litigation. Ted has repeatedly (2003 through 2018) been named to the Super Lawyer List by Texas Monthly, and was named one of the top 100 Lawyers in America by American Trial Lawyers Association consecutively since 2007.

Mr. Banker is a board certified specialist in criminal law with 30 years experience. He is dedicated to the best interest and well-being of those he represents, and with whom he is a true “brother in arms”. As such, he advocates for the success of his clients in courts of law all over Texas and the United States. A native Texan, Mr. Banker was born and raised in the Houston area. He graduated with Honors from the University of Texas at Austin and received his Law degree (J.D.) from the University of Houston Law Center. In between these degrees, Mr. Banker achieved a Master’s degree in Theology from Regent College, and a Master’s in Legal and Constitutional History from Rice University. Additionally, Mr. Banker has travelled extensively throughout Latin America and is fluent in the Spanish language. All this training and education has prepared Mr. Banker for what he believes is his vocational “calling” in life: To stand with and defend those who have found themselves in the very difficult circumstance of facing judgment in a court of law. As a Christian lawyer, he believes that helping people through difficult times is a natural outworking of this faith. Additionally, he counsels his clients to ultimately look to God as their helper, and see that adversity often produces more strength of character and greater faith in Him. Over the years, Mr. Banker has been involved in several “high profile” cases. One of which involved his representation of a high ranking member of the separatist group, the Republic of Texas. Several members had been charged in Federal Court in Dallas with bank fraud. After a month long trial, Mr. Banker’s client was the only one of the nine defendants found "not guilty". Another case involved the owner of a bus company, whose bus caught on fire when evacuating the Houston area because if Hurricane Rita. More than a dozen elderly people were killed in the accident. Mr. Banker’s client was charged in Federal Court in McAllen with several counts involving the operation of his buses. He was found “not guilty” of the felony charges that could have put him in prison for up to ten years, and given probation for two minor misdemeanors. On a personal note, Mr. Banker has been happily married to his wife Rose for over 20 years, and he has been actively involved in the lives of their children, Stevan, Faith and Joshua. They are members of Christ Family Church, where Mr. Banker teaches Sunday school and has been active in leadership for many years.

Criminal Lawyer proudly serving Albuquerque, New Mexico and the surrounding areas. Please call 800-578-4330 to speak with Rachel Walker Al-Yasi today.

David Norman Getz is a practicing lawyer in the state of Texas handling personal injury matters,

Charles J. Buchan is a practicing lawyer in the state of Arkansas handling Estate and Adoption matters.