Justia Legal Services & Lawyers Directory

John Lund Keller; born in New London, Connecticut on January 23, 1952; graduated from Central High School in Seat Pleasant, Maryland in 1970; graduated from Randolph-Macon College in Ashland, Virginia in 1974 (Phi Beta Kappa); graduated from Paul M. Hebert School of Law at Louisiana State University (LSU) in Baton Rouge, Louisiana in 1977; clerk for Gary S. Gasparovic in Bryans Road, Maryland from 1975, 1976-1977 and then associate from 1978-1981; admitted to practice of law In Maryland in 1978 and in Washington, D.C. in 1981;married Cecelia Ann Coon on August 8, 1981; elected to Charles County Board of Education (1986-1990); former Trust Clerk for Circuit Court for Charles County, Maryland; treasurer-secretary (1995-1996), vice president (1996-1997), president (1997-1998) of Charles County Bar Association; a standing examiner of the Circuit Court for Charles County, Maryland (1998-present)

Randall S. Herriott is a partner at the firm of Sasscer, Clagett and Bucher. Mr. Herriott concentrates his practice in the area of Family Law.

Mr. Herriott is well known for successfully representing clients in matters involving the issues of divorce, custody and visitation, child support, alimony, property distribution and domestic
violence.

In 2008, Mr. Herriott successfully litigated numerous cases involving parties who were seeking the legal and physical custody of their children. In his practice, Mr. Herriott has also successfully
litigated several third-party custody actions, where non-parent relatives were granted custody of their minor child relatives.

Mr. Herriott is also trained in the area of Collaborative Law, an innovative approach to resolving family law issues that fosters and promotes communication and cooperation between the parties and counsel. The Collaborative Law approach seeks a more constructive and respectful path to resolution in a manner that is private, focused on the needs of the clients and/or their children, and puts control of the outcome in the hands of the clients, rather than the courts. Additional information regarding the collaborative approach to resolving family law cases may be viewed at www.fairdivorcemaryland.com, www.marylandcollaborativepractice.com, and www.collaborativepractice.com.

Mr. Herriott is a graduate of St. Mary’s College of Maryland and the University of Baltimore School of Law, where he graduated with honors.

Letoria G. Knight is a graduate of Howard University School of Law, a former law clerk to a Prince George's County Circuit Court Judge, and a former Assistant State's Attorney for Prince George's County.

Originally from the gulf coast area, Letoria Knight obtained a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Louisiana State University. She subsequently worked as a project engineer. Letoria Knight also holds a M.S. in Management from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. And has previously worked as a patent examiner for the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

Paul J. Reinstein is a partner at the firm of Sasscer, Clagett & Bucher. Mr. Reinstein is widely recognized by his clients and peers as one of the premier domestic law attorneys in the Washington Metropolitan area.

Mr. Reinstein has been named by publications including Washingtonian Magazine, Washington D.C. Super Lawyers, and the Washington Post, as one of the top family law practitioners in the Washington Metropolitan Area. In February, 2009, Mr. Reinstein was named one of the 88 top divorce lawyers in the entire Washington Metropolitan area.

Mr. Reinstein is one of only 29 fellows in the Maryland chapter of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers (AAML) www.aaml.org and the only one in the Southern Maryland Area. An AV rated attorney, Mr. Reinstein is an annual presenter at the AAML's Institute For Family Law Associates course each year in Chicago.

Mr. Reinstein lectures frequently throughout the state on current issues in family law, as well as before the Administrative Office of the Court's Judicial Institute. He is a past Chair of the Maryland State Bar Association Family and Juvenile Law Section. He teaches continuing legal education courses to attorneys for the Maryland State Bar Association and the Maryland Institute for Continuing Professional Education of Lawyers.

Mr. Reinstein also serves as an arbitrator and mediator for the courts in multiple jurisdictions.

Prior to joining Sasscer, Clagett & Bucher, he was a founding partner in the law firm of Keiffer, Johnston & Reinstein.

He is a graduate cum laude of Villanova University and the Columbus School of Law, Catholic University of America.

Mr. McManus has been practicing law for twenty years, and for the past ten years he has been a partner at the firm. He began his career as a law clerk for Judge Joseph Mattingly in St. Mary's County Maryland and then worked as a prosecutor in both St. Mary's and Prince George's County. His more noteworthy criminal cases include:

* In 1985, Michael John Desasrno was convicted of sexual child abuse for acts committed by the former highschool wrestling coach while acting in the capacity as a wrestling coach.

* In 1987, Mr. McManus successfully prosecuted Willie Horton for beating and raping an Oxon Hill woman. The case received national media attention in the 1988 presidential election between George Bush and Michael Dukakis. Willie Horton, serving a life sentence for murder, escaped from a Massachusetts prison furlough program to commit the rape, while Mr. Dukakis was governor of the state.

* In 1988, Mr. McManus convicted a trucker for Motor Vehicle manslaughter in the 1986 deaths of two highschool girls in Riverdale. A truck with 18 safety defects carrying hot asphalt stalled at the top of a hill and rolled into a car occupied by three highschool girls. One was severely injured and the other two died when nearly 14,000 pounds of hot asphalt was dumped on the car.

Mr. McManus has developed a reputation as one of the premier personal injury attorneys in Southern Maryland. He has successfully represented both plaintiffs and defendants in a number of major truck accident cases, and developed a specialty in negotiating complex personal injury settlements. Mr. McManus has lectured, along side several judges, at multiple personal injury seminars for lawyers. An 'AV' rated attorney, he is a member of the American Bar Foundation, the Maryland State Bar Foundation, the Governor's Trial Courts Nominating Commission, and has chaired or co-chaired the local bar's Tort Law Sub-Committee for the past seven years.

Law Practice: I am very lucky to work with my father, Franklin Olmsted, and my brother, Edward Olmsted, in our general practice. Most of my work is in the field of domestic relations, criminal law and personal injury cases while my brother does most of our wills and estate work. We practice mainly in the Southern Maryland area of Charles, St. Mary's, Calvert and Prince George's counties. Our office is located in La Plata, MD, directly across from the Charles County Courthouse.

Education: I graduated from the University of Virginia in 1986 and the University of Richmond School of Law in 1991.

Community Service: I am presently a member of the Ethics Review Panel for the Charles County Board of Education, a member of the Adult Guardianship Review Board appointed by the Charles County Commissioners, and I am among the Board of Directors for Freedom Landing, a non-profit organization devoted to ensuring those with mental illness are cared for in the least restrictive setting assisting them to remain self-supporting. I coach Chess at my son's school, and I have been a volunteer baseball and soccer coach for my children's teams for many years.

Personal: I am married with three children.

George P. Patterson is a partner at the firm of Sasscer, Clagett & Bucher. Mr. Patterson has been lead counsel on over 1,000 trials, recovering millions of dollars on behalf of his clients. He has successfully handled over a dozen wrongful death cases along with hundreds of cases involving permanent personal injuries.

Mr. Patterson presides over a diverse personal injury practice that not only focuses on litigation and medical malpractice, but on the investigation of complex medical conditions such as traumatic brain injuries, complex bone fractures, laminectomies, disc fusions, growth plate fractures, carpal tunnel surgeries, fibromyalgia and whiplash injuries. He is widely recognized for his ability to obtain substantial settlements for his clients across a broad spectrum of practice areas.

Early in Mr. Patterson's career, he obtained dozens of defense verdicts in personal injury jury trials. He has built on this experience to properly present plaintiffs' claims and to avoid tactical mistakes made by plaintiffs' attorneys.

Some of his more noteworthy cases include:


In a Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy (RSD) case, Mr. Patterson was able to obtain a resolution in the case in Federal Court for $587,500. The defense questioned the seriousness of the disorder but was persuaded by a report from an internationally renowned expert on (RSD) hired by Mr. Patterson.

In a wrongful death case, Mr. Patterson was hired by a family who lost their son in a tragic single car accident. The son was a passenger in the car that had only $20,000 in coverage. The family's insurance company then refused to honor a claim for underinsured motorist benefits, claiming the family had only purchased minimum coverage. Mr. Patterson investigated the insurance records and discovered the company had failed to obtain a signed waiver for the reduced coverage. As a result, Mr. Patterson obtained a $500,000 recovery.

Mr. Patterson obtained a $310,000 settlement on behalf of a client who sustained a neck injury requiring surgery. The settlement was obtained after the defendant retained a medical expert to argue that the neck surgery was due to a pre-existing condition.

Mr. Patterson resolved a fall case for $140,000. The client fell at a grocery store and broke her knee cap. The client had medical bills of approximately $14,000. There was no offer prior to filing suit.

Mr. Patterson represented a client who suffered a facial laceration in an automobile accident. The insurance company offered the uncompensated man a "final" settlement of $20,000. Mr. Patterson was hired to take over the case and received a settlement of $75,000 for his client.

Mr. Patterson represented a client who checked into a hotel only to be awakened in the middle of the night by an intruder who had previously worked for the hotel and entered with a room key. His client successfully attacked the intruder without sustaining any injury other than some sore knuckles. Mr. Patterson obtained a $75,000 settlement on behalf of his client.

Mr. Patterson represented a client who initially tried to settle the case on his own and was offered "final" settlement of $10,000 with less than one week before the statute of limitations was set to expire. Upon being retained, the insurance company increased the offer to $25,000. Mr. Patterson filed suit and attained an agreement by which an arbitrator could award up to $60,000 to the client.

Mr. Patterson represented a client in a low-impact crash with minimal damage. The insurance company offered the client $181.50 to settle the case. Mr. Patterson took the case to trial and his client was awarded $18,000.

Mr. Patterson graduated from DePauw University with a double major in economics and philosophy and magna cum laude from the Catholic University of America, Columbus School of Law.

Over twenty years of experience representing small, medium, and large businesses before state, federal, administrative tribunals and courts. Specializing in business modelling, corporate governance, finance and revenue, mergers and acquisitions, economic regulation, antitrust, transportation, and communications law.

Law Offices of Ross D. Hecht, located in Upper Marlboro, Maryland provides professional and dedicated legal services in Criminal Defense, Civil Litigation, Civil and Criminal Appellate Practice, Personal Injury, Business Law, Creditors Bankruptcy Practice, Probation Revocation, Sealing Records,Traffic Violations, and DUI / DWI Defenses.


Attorney Ross Hecht is actively admitted and licensed to practice law in all Courts of the State of Maryland and in the District of Columbia. His primary area of expertise is Litigation. He is experienced in all areas of criminal defense and trial work, both at the misdemeanor and felony levels to state and federal appellate level.


Law Offices also handles Juvenile Court Cases, Extradition Matters, in addition to Last Wills and Testaments, Living Wills, and Powers of Attorney