Justia Legal Services & Lawyers Directory

Using her combined experience of over 15 years, first as a CPA and now as an attorney, Sonya Smith-Valentine has had a successful legal career winning cases against credit bureaus, credit card companies, banks and collection agencies for unlawful activity.

Sonya has built her firm to have a significant presence and practice helping consumers with credit reporting errors, debt collection harassment, identity theft, credit card lawsuit defense and bankruptcy credit reporting errors. Her expertise on credit and debt laws include: the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), the Electronic Funds Transfer Act (EFTA), and the Fair Credit Billing Act (FCBA).

Sonya is also a powerful keynote speaker. Having been a victim of identity theft, she is passionate about empowering her audiences understand the importance of protecting sensitive personal and financial information. She excels at empowering individuals to embrace organizational change for better compliance with consumer protection laws.

Sonya blends her experience as a practicing attorney with her energetic speaking style to enlighten and inspire her audiences. Her presentations are rich with ideas, suggestions and stories which have made her a sought after keynote speaker by colleges and corporations and at events throughout the country. Audiences walk away with the knowledge, resources and tools needed to change their approach to handling most identity theft and personal finance issues.

Michael J. Schreyer, the past chair of the MSBA Negligence, Insurance & Workers' Compensation Committee, and MTLA Amicus Counsel to the Appellate Courts of Maryland shares helpful information for lawyers and consumers based on his 20 years of trials in the field of medical malpractice, automobile, workplace and defective product injuries as well as workers' compensation benefits.

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.

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.

Mr. Holzman is a senior litigator in our commercial litigation section and our lead commercial bankruptcy practitioner. For many years, he has enjoyed success in trial and appellate courts representing commercial and business clients in a wide range of disputes, including general contract and commercial issues, banking/finance issues, employment issues, business dissolution issues, administrative proceedings, bankruptcy proceedings and many other matters arising out of business settings. A former faculty member of the University of Maryland and adjunct instructor for the American Institute of Banking, Mr. Holzman has been recognized by national media such as the Wall Street Journal, Kipplinger's Finance, Money Magazine and countless other publications. He served as an editor of the University of Maryland Law Review during his law school tenure. Prior to attending law school, Mr. Holzman receive a Master's Degree from the School of Business Administration at Michigan State University, as well as a bachelor's degree from Michigan State University

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.

Mark Andrew Kohl has been an associate with the firm since 2006. He is a member of the Maryland and District of Columbia bars.

Realizing that law was his true calling, Mr. Kohl (who had an undergraduate degree from Olivet Nazarene University, a Masters Degree from the University of Illinois, and also studied at the Catholic University of America as a Bradley Fellow) left his teaching position to attend the Georgetown University Law Center, and has never looked back.

Mr. Kohl's practice focuses on plaintiff's personal injury cases, including automobile accidents and medical malpractice. Mr. Kohl has also successfully represented contractors and subcontractors in actions to establish mechanics liens and secure payment, and has defended contractors accused of negligence. A substantial part of Mr. Kohl's practice also includes defense cases arising from medical malpractice and legal malpractice, electrical utility accidents, motor vehicle accidents, and slip and falls.

Mr. Kohl has been very successful in his young law career, representing clients across numerous and diverse practice areas, and he thrives on the intellectual challenges of his work.

Prior to joining Sasscer, Clagett & Bucher, Mr. Kohl clerked for the Honorable Christopher C. Henderson in Charles County, Maryland.

Maria Patterson has worked as a trial attorney in Prince George's County for her entire career. Currently, she is a County Attorney for Prince George's County and she maintains a small private practice. She accepts serious automobile, truck and motorcycle accident cases as part of her private practice. Ms. Patterson is a highly sought after personal injury attorney due to her experience. Ms. Patteson has tried nearly 100 personal injury jury trials and has tried several hundred auto accident cases. She started as a personal injury attorney trying cases at a prominent private law firm in the County. Thereafter, she worked for a major insurance company defending people who were sued as a result of truck, motorcycle and car accidents. If you have been injured in a car, truck or motorcyle accident please do not hesitate to contact Ms. Patterson.

I am a lifelong resident of Montgomery County and practice Criminal Defense law in the Federal and State Courts of Maryland and the District of Columbia. I am a very proud graduate of the University of Maryland and University of Baltimore Law School. I have been honored in 2009 to serve as Chair of the Maryland State Bar Association Criminal Law Section Council and to previously have served as President of the Maryland Criminal Defense Attorney Association. I am also serving my second 4 year term as the Criminal Defense representative on the Maryland State Commission on Criminal Sentencing Policy appointed by Governor O'Malley. (www.msccsp.org). In nearly 25 years of practice now, I have handled a wide range of different types of cases including approximately 50 homicides cases, complex Federal drug and white collar type cases, and nearly every other type of criminal and traffic case. I am also widely known as an expert in asset forfeiture matters.

Maureen Glackin is a senior associate at the firm of Sasscer, Clagett & Bucher. Her practice is concentrated in the area of domestic law and she is widely sought for her extensive experience representing military service members. As a former military dependent, Ms. Glackin innately understands the unique challenges facing the military service member and spouse during divorce, custody and child support cases.

This unique area of expertise, coupled with her detailed understanding of the Uniformed Services Former Spouses' Protection Act, has made Ms. Glackin a frequent guest lecturer to professional groups and other associations. Having continued to practice law during extensive travel with her now retired Navy spouse, she is licensed to practice law in California, the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Washington State.

Since joining the firm in 2006, Ms. Glackin has successfully tried complex domestic law cases involving businesses, self-employed individuals, child custody, and child support, in Maryland and other jurisdictions.

Most recently, Ms. Glackin completed the Advanced Associate Training Course with the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers.

Ms. Glackin is a graduate of Villanova University and the Temple University School of Law.

Michelle Davy, Esquire is the Principal and Managing Attorney of The Davy Law Firm Inc.

A 1988 graduate of the Georgetown University Law Center, Ms. Davy has focused her practice in the areas of Bankruptcy and Debt Relief/Collection, Small Businesses, Family, Matrimonial and Employment law counseling, representation and litigation in the Maryland and District of Columbia metropolitan area courts since 1990.

During her 18 year career, Ms. Davy has served in both the private and public sectors, representing a wide variety of litigants in complex and sensitive matters, from both the plaintiff and defense posture. She has served as an Assistant Attorney General for the D.C. government, Counsel and Attorney-Advisor with the federal government, and as a Senior Associate and Principal in Washington, D.C. area law firms.

Ms. Davy is a member of the state and federal courts of Maryland, the District of Columbia and Pennsylvania, and the United States Supreme Court, the Maryland State Bar Association and the American Bar Association.

The proud mother of two, Ms. Davy is highly experienced in managing and resolving the various legal problems that can affect families and small businesses, and devoted to providing her clients with the aggressive, expert and comprehensive legal services they need and deserve.

Call Attorney Davy at (240) 744-4636 for caring and prompt legal help with your debt, small business, family or employment matter today.

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)

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.