The strong and experienced litigation team at Gipson Hoffman & Pancione offers a full range of services, whether during negotiations, at trial, in arbitration, or on appeal.
We have represented parties in state and federal courts, including achieving a unanimous ruling for our client in the United States Supreme Court. Members of our Litigation practice area have taken the lead in representing clients in many areas of the law, including Business Transactions, Entertainment & Finance, Intellectual Property, and Real Estate, demonstrating an extraordinary depth of knowledge related to attorney professional liability and malpractice as well as bankruptcy and debtor-creditor actions. Our litigation experience includes successes in jury and bench trials; arbitrations and other dispute resolution procedures; administrative proceedings before local, state, and federal bodies; and appellate proceedings.
Litigation Philosophy
Our litigators operate on a distinct, three-part philosophy:
- Dispute Avoidance: A strong litigation team is the best deterrent to costly litigation. Our litigation members work with clients to anticipate potential friction and to develop ways to prevent disputes through careful drafting of foundational and business documents. When disputes are on the horizon, we anticipate opposition and strive to avoid escalating tensions that can upend constructive resolutions.
- Settlement in the Client’s Best Interests: Most disputes settle, and our litigators know that most clients facing litigation are often best served by exploring at opportune points the likely outcomes and seeking agreeable results before tensions and legal expenses mount, whether through private negotiation or in formal mediation. Honest assessment of expected outcomes and costs is key to true success, which usually means allowing the client to put the dispute to rest, avoid further litigation expense, and get back to business. Getting to this advantageous result often means making an early decision for formal mediation proceedings, before incurring the substantial expenses of litigation and trial.
- Win at Trial: Sometimes the best option is to fight to win. Despite all efforts to reach resolution, sometimes a trial is inevitable; but the stakes in litigation can be high, and the tensions can be intense and intractable. Our battle-tested litigators with jury trial experience give our clients the best chance of a successful outcome. We have pursued our clients’ needs in local and federal courts, in trial and on appeal, regardless of whether the case is brought in local courts, across the country, or in the highest court in Washington, D.C.
The attorneys at GHP are also seasoned practitioners in arbitration and other alternatives for dispute resolution. Because it may be less formal than court proceedings, arbitration can be an ideal option for some cases. Yet, because arbitration decisions can be binding, the proceedings demand the same rigorous skill and planning required for success at trial. Our litigators know the distinct evidentiary standards and rules of arbitration and work strategically to support our clients’ cases.
Bankruptcy and Debtor-Creditor Actions
We wield our decades of insolvency and bankruptcy experience, when needed by our clients, as a business tool to complete needed asset sales, to preserve and protect critical business lines from prior mistakes or mishaps, to make possible an orderly liquidation, or to discharge debts incurred from prior businesses or during hard times that impeded a personal path forward. When business allies, competitors, or accounts are insolvent or in bankruptcy, we help our clients to maximize these special financial opportunities by buying assets, assuring future performance, or litigating to maintain a fair outcome.
Professional Responsibility Specialization
Litigation attorneys at GHP have extensive experience handling matters of professional liability and regulatory actions, successfully defending and suing lawyers and law firms, accountants, real estate licensees, and other professionals in all forms of professional responsibility actions and proceedings. The GHP litigation attorneys have handled a wide range of cases from consultation and planning through trial and appeals. Lawyers in the practice area provide expert consultation to other counsel handling malpractice, breach of fiduciary duty, and fee dispute cases, and they are often retained to testify as expert witnesses.