Justia Legal Services & Lawyers Directory

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.

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.

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.

Sheila F. Fleshman is a partner at the firm of Sasscer, Clagett & Bucher. Ms. Fleshman's areas of practice focus primarily in litigation in the field of personal injury, including wrongful death, premises liability, and contractual matters.

Ms. Fleshman, who has lived in Prince George's County most of her adult life, developed her skills as an Assistant State's Attorney for several years by prosecuting a multitude of cases on behalf of the State of Maryland including homicides and other cases where individuals in the community were victims of violent crimes. During that time, Ms. Fleshman's accomplishments as a trial lawyer earned her an Honorary Governor's citation for her work as an Assistant State's Attorney.

Ms. Fleshman is an active litigator with over 20 years of experience. She strives to provide knowledgeable, caring and aggressive representation for her clients. Since Ms. Fleshman joined the firm of Sasscer, Clagett & Bucher in 1995, she has focused her practice in the area of personal injury. Ms. Fleshman represents those who have been injured in automobile accidents as the result of someone else's negligence. Various insurance companies also frequently retain the services of Ms. Fleshman to represent individuals who have been sued based upon allegations of negligence brought by another. Her ability to represent both the victims of negligence as well as those individuals who require a defense attorney in a negligence action, have provided her with unique insight into the world of personal injury litigation and an opportunity to view the process from all perspectives. Others in the legal community who consider Ms. Fleshman's record of success in the courtroom impressive, frequently refer cases to her in those situations where the matter at hand requires litigation skills.

Ms. Fleshman has also received training in a Skills-Based training course in civil mediation by the Maryland Institute for Continuing Education (MICPEL). She has served as a Mediator and as an Arbitrator of disputes between various individuals, business entities, and insurance companies.

Ms. Fleshman attended Sidwell Friends High School in Washington, D.C., Tufts University in Boston, Massachusetts, and the George Washington University School of Law in Washington, D.C.

Ms. Fleshman wholeheartedly recognizes the entitlement of all members of the community to quality legal representation regardless of social, economic, religious or racial backgrounds.

Joyce Smithey focuses her practice primarily in the area of employment law. Ms. Smithey regularly advises employers and employees on matters of discrimination, affirmative action, wage and hour issues, restrictive covenants, and sexual harassment. In addition to handling employment litigation, Ms. Smithey assists employers and employees with employment law compliance, drafting employee handbooks, and providing on-site training sessions to managers and employees on employment law topics. Ms. Smithey has represented clients in state and federal courts, and before the Department of Labor, the Department of Employee Security, the Commission on Human Relations, and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. She has handled numerous jury trials, appellate oral arguments, bench trials, motion hearings, equity petitions, and damages hearings.

Ms. Smithey has taught seminars and law school courses on employment law topics, including restrictive covenants, employee handbooks, hiring and interviewing practices, discrimination, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Family Medical Leave Act, and employee evaluations. She has also published extensively on employment law and civil litigation.

Ms. Smithey is a member of the Labor and Employment Law Sections of the Maryland State Bar Association, the District of Columbia Bar Association, the Federal Bar Association, and the American Bar Association, and she is a member of the Women’s Bar Association of Maryland, the National Employment Lawyers Association, and the Maryland Employment Lawyers Association. Ms. Smithey also does extensive pro bono work in the area of employment law, including serving on the Employment Law Hotline for the Women’s Law Center and teaching in the Workplace Street Law Program. She has also authored amicus briefs for the National Employment Lawyers Association. She has served her community as a member of the Executive Committee of the Pepperdine University Washington D.C. Waves, a mentor for the Pepperdine University Washington D.C. Internship Program, a member of the Board of Trustees for Dress for Success New Hampshire, a member of the Board of Directors for the New Hampshire Safety and Health Council, and a volunteer tutor for the Central Area Youth Association. She currently serves as an officer on the Board of Directors for the Bay Hills Community Association.

Ms. Smithey received her Juris Doctor from Boston University School of Law where she researched and authored “Housing Discrimination Against People with Mental Disabilities: How does the Fair Housing Amendment Act of 1988 Help Implement the Goals of Deinstitutionalization?” Ms. Smithey received her Bachelor of Arts from Pepperdine University. She is admitted to practice in Maryland, the District of Columbia, and New Hampshire. Prior to becoming a partner at Rifkin, Livingston, Levitan, & Silver, LLC, Ms. Smithey practiced at Gorman & Williams in Baltimore, Maryland and Upton & Hatfield, LLP, one of the largest and most respected firms in New Hampshire.