Justia Legal Services & Lawyers Directory

Lee E. Berlik is the founder and managing member of BerlikLaw, LLC. With offices in D.C. and Northern Virginia, BerlikLaw concentrates its practice in the areas of intellectual property litigation, employment disputes and counseling, contract disputes, and business litigation. Formerly with Troutman Sanders and Mintz Levin, Lee brings his big-firm background and experience to offer clients top-notch legal services at drastically reduced rates.

Ghislaine Storr Burks is the lead criminal defense lawyer at Livesay & Myers. She represents clients in Woodbridge, Manassas, Stafford, Fairfax, Alexandria, Arlington, Spotsylvania and Fredericksburg, Virginia.

An experienced, hard-working attorney, Ms. Storr Burks believes the building block for success in every trial is rigorous preparation. She believes in doing the hard work before trial necessary to give you the best chance to win in court.

As a law firm, Livesay & Myers, P.C. believes in maintaining a proper client-to-attorney ratio, so that each of our defense attorneys have sufficient time to devote to each case. This policy translates to the best chance of success for each client.

Kevin Myers is the lead automobile accident and personal injury attorney at Livesay & Myers. He represents clients in Woodbridge, Manassas, Stafford, Fairfax, Spotsylvania and Fredericksburg, Virginia.

An experienced, hard-working attorney, Mr. Myers believes the building block for success in every trial is rigorous preparation. He believes in doing the hard work before trial necessary to give you the best chance to win in court. As a law firm, Livesay & Myers, P.C. believes in maintaining a proper client-to-attorney ratio, so that each of our defense attorneys have sufficient time to devote to each case. This policy translates to the best chance of success for each client.

Jessica Golden is a criminal defense lawyer at Livesay & Myers, P.C. She represents clients in Woodbridge, Manassas, Stafford, Fairfax, Alexandria, Arlington, Spotsylvania, Henrico, Hanover, Richmond and Fredericksburg, Virginia.

An experienced, hard-working attorney, Ms. Golden believes the building block for success in every trial is rigorous preparation. She believes in doing the hard work before trial necessary to give you the best chance to win in court. As a law firm, Livesay & Myers, P.C. believes in maintaining a proper client-to-attorney ratio, so that each of our defense attorneys have sufficient time to devote to each case. This policy translates to the best chance of success for each client.

Sheri R. Abrams, Attorney at Law, founded her own law firm in 1995. Since that time she has concentrated her law practice to the areas of Social Security Disability Law, Wills, Living Wills, Powers of Attorney and Special Needs Trusts. Ms. Abrams regularly handles cases in Virginia, Maryland, and the District of Columbia.

Jonathan Frieden is a principal in Odin, Feldman & Pittleman, P.C.'s Litigation practice group where he tries a variety of complex commercial disputes and criminal matters. His diverse civil practice encompasses intellectual property litigation, including trademark and copyright enforcement proceedings; the representation of management in employment discrimination claims; the defense of corporations against consumer claims; and a variety of commercial contract disputes.

Mr. Frieden counsels e-commerce businesses in a variety of industries and recently led the team of attorneys representing one of these businesses in its acquisition by a publicly traded company. He is also the author of E-Commerce Law (www.ecommercelaw.typepad.com), a regularly updated discussion of news, trends and legal issues affecting e-commerce businesses.

Mr. Frieden has received national media coverage in recent cases in which his comments, on behalf of his clients, were carried on NBC, CBS, FOX and WTOP News. His arguments and post-trial comments have been quoted extensively in The Washington Post, The Washington Times, and other newspapers across the United States.

Mr. Frieden has twice been named among Virginia's "Legal Elite" according to Virginia Business magazine. His inclusion on this list means that he is among those lawyers recognized by his peers as the best in Virginia. In addition, Richmond Magazine has twice listed Mr. Frieden as one of Virginia's "Rising Stars". Rising Stars identifies the top 2.5 percent of attorneys in Virginia who are under 40 or have been in practice for less than 10 years.

Jennifer Varughese is the lead immigration law attorney at Livesay & Myers. A member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, Ms. Varughese's immigration law practice covers both family-based and employment-based cases, including nonimmigrant visas, green cards, "adjustment of status" for those already present in the country, citizenship, and deportation cases.

Ms. Varughese has argued twice before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, in cases that became published opinions: Hussain v. Gonzales, 477 F.3d 153 (4th Cir. 2007) and Markovski v. Gonzales, 486 F.3d 108 (4th Cir. 2007).

Ms. Varughese represents clients in Woodbridge, Manassas, Stafford, Alexandria, Arlington, Fredericksburg, Richmond, Fairfax and all of Northern Virginia, as well as throughout Maryland and the District of Columbia.

Cherish Hadley-Njewel is a family law attorney at Livesay & Myers, P.C.

An experienced, hard-working attorney, Ms. Hadley-Njewel believes the building block for success in every trial is rigorous preparation. She believes in doing the hard work before trial necessary to give you the best chance to win in court.

As a law firm, Livesay & Myers, P.C. believes in maintaining a proper client-to-attorney ratio, so that each of our defense attorneys have sufficient time to devote to each case. This policy translates to the best chance of success for each client.

Robert C. Lehrman is the principal attorney at Lehrman Beverage Law, PLLC.

Robert founded the firm in 2001 after 12 years at the Washington, DC office of a larger firm that specializes in federal and state administrative law. From 1998 until 2001 Robert was the partner in charge of the firm's Washington, DC office.

Mr. Lehrman concentrates on the federal regulation of alcohol beverages (beer, wine and spirits).

He has advised many companies on the production, labeling, advertising, and taxation of a wide variety of consumer products: foreign and domestic, with and without alcohol, fit and unfit for beverage purposes.

He has helped hundreds of companies formulate beverages to ensure that they are taxed and labeled in an advantageous manner while in compliance with relevant laws and regulations. These companies produce beverages in dozens of countries around the world and range from the largest to the smallest in the beverage industry.

Robert has efficiently reviewed thousands of food and beverage labels over the years. He has also helped to design the labels and get them promptly approved.

Robert has more than 20 years of experience in successfully representing wineries, breweries, distilleries and importers in frequent negotiations with ATF and now TTB. Aside from alcohol beverage matters, Robert has significant experience in advising clients on FDA and Customs matters.

Robert has worked with companies at all tiers of the beverage industry, including retailers, wholesalers, producers and importers. His experience includes licensing and permit matters at the federal level and in many states. Robert has particularly enjoyed the challenge of managing several large-scale product recalls, helping a beverage company win a false advertising case, and successfully petitioning to change various federal regulations. From 2004 to 2007 Robert worked with Kubler Absinthe to allow absinthe into the US after a 95-year ban. The firm has taken the lead in setting up scores of alcohol beverage companies, from incorporation to licensing to formulation to labeling to marketing.

Caroline is an attorney and strategic consultant who has advised developing companies, entrepreneurs, investors, CXO's and directors on all three coasts and abroad.

Caroline offers dispute and crisis solutions, including internal and external business conciliation, neutral evaluation, guided negotiation, and mediation. She realigns splintered management and guides turnaround.

She offers legal guidance to American and foreign clients in (US) intellectual property, executive employment, executive immigration, environmental hazards, and real property development and usage (DC, Texas and federal matters).

Caroline guides strategic planning, development, risk assessment and turnaround. This preventive guidance reduces the frequency and costs of transactional disputes, operational crises, and litigation. She helps clients identify opportunities as well as risks, guiding business model and business plan construction and reconstruction, product development, organizational structuring, resolution of personnel/talent matters, and initiation of strategic alliances. In addition to helping companies manage and avoid operational and functional risk, she helps developing companies raise capital, develop commercial contracts, hone presentations, and rationalize the business model and team. Her clients have interests in the U.S., Europe, Asia and Latin America.



Caroline has worked with several private equity firms, including Thot Capital of New York and Cumulous capital of London. She advised on the development of the UT Health Science Center Biotech Incubator at its outset and was Cornerstone Sponsor and client advisor of the Houston Technology Center. She has taken leadership roles on nonprofit boards and advises directors of nonprofit and for profit boards. She is a member of the NACD, ACG, ABA, AIPLA and MIT Enterprise Forum. Licensed in D.C. and Texas, she is a member of various Bar groups. Her analyses have been published in the Harvard Business Review and elsewhere; please contact her for white papers on topics of interest to you.

Wayne M. Zell, Esq. Is the President and founding shareholder of Zell Law. He has spent his legal, public accounting and business advisory career counseling clients in a broad range of industries, including technology companies of all types and investor groups. His clients also include for-profit and non-profit executives, service providers and high-net worth individuals.

Wayne has extensive experience in representing clients in complex estate planning and business planning matters. On estate planning matters, Wayne routinely advises clients in structuring and preparing intricate revocable and irrevocable trusts, family limited partnerships and limited liability companies, life insurance vehicles, charitable giving arrangements (including charitable lead and remainder trusts), private and public foundations and grantmaking programs, asset protection planning, joint ventures with tax-exempt organizations, and compensation and equity incentive plans for executives.

On business planning matters, Wayne represents the owners of closely-held businesses on general business, tax and succession planning, mergers and acquisitions, private equity fund formation and operation, equity and debt investments and executive compensation matters. He also represents key employees of publicly traded and privately held entitites in planning for the receipt and disposition of stock options and restricted stock.

Prior to forming Zell Law, Wayne practiced as an attorney and as a CPA with a variety of law firms and public accounting firms. He also served as General Counsel and CFO of YellowBrix, Inc., an internet content provider and enterprise software developer. Previously, he was a partner with Mintz Levin; Powell Goldstein; Freedman, Levy, Kroll & Simonds; and O'Connor & Hannan. He also was a Senior Manager in the Washington National Tax Service Office of Price Waterhouse, specializing in tax-exempt organizations and flow-through entities, including partnerships, limited liability companies and trusts, and has practiced as a CPA since 1980.

Wayne is admitted to practice as an attorney in Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia. In 2006, Wayne was named one of the Washington, DC area's "Legal Elite" by SmartCEO Magazine. He is a frequent lecturer on estate and business planning topics and hosts a popular educational radio talk show - Blueprint for Wealth every Saturday from 7:30-8:00am on AM 1500 and AM 820. From 1991 to 2005, he served as an Officer and a Member of the Board of Directors of the Children's Charities Foundation, Inc. in Washington D.C., which hosts the annual BB&T Classic Basketball Tournament. He is a member of the Exempt Organizations Committee of the Tax Section of the American Bar Association, as well as the ABA's Real Property and Probate and Business Law Sections.

After over 34 years of patent examining, I have retired from the US Patent Office in February of 2007, and have been pursuing related work in the private sector.

I have a Bachelors of Science (1970) and Masters of Science (1972) degrees from Penn State University in Aerospace Engineering.

My primary area of expertise is in the aeronautics and space art. Due to the complex nature of this art, it requires knowledge of many other mechanical and electrical areas of the USPTO. As a patent examiner, I have examined over 5000 patent applications, issued over 3500 patents in the aircraft art and reviewed and responded to over 10,000 application amendments. While at the USPTO I was formally recognized as an Expert in the Aerospace art by a specially appointed review board at the USPTO. Part of this Expert review process required recognition by at least two members of the Patent Office Board of Appeals as to my ability to not only understand the technology but also to properly apply the Patent Laws to such technology and to the patentability of the claimed invention. As a result of this experience I have developed a very detailed knowledge of the majority of the patents in the field of aeronautics and space. I have had details to Quality Review, the Assistant Commissioner of Patents (when the USPTO was involved in fraud questions of patent prosecution), and multiple teaching details to the Patent Examining Academy. I have trained other examiners informally in the art units that I have worked in, as well as through the Patent Examining Academy. My qualification should meet any courts requirements as an expert witness in the Aerospace technology.

Since my retirement in February of 2007, I have worked with a group in assisting them in the start up of a contract operation for the USPTO to classify Pre Grant Patent Applications. My duties with this start up endeavor included assisting in training of the employees in patent classification and search skills. I was also a -trouble shooter- that determined the proper routing of difficult to classify inventions from all technologies of the USPTO. These duties enabled me to broaden my level of understanding to all technology areas of the USPTO. Other duties included researching and looking into other companies in the patent field, who were developing software related to patent searching and the automated classification tools for patents and other documents. I was also charged with reviewing the Quality feedback from the USPTO as it applied to the classifications that were sent to them.

I have also worked for Boeing in reviewing patent applications that outside counsel had drafted to assure that they were technically accurate and that the claims were proper and covered all the essential areas of the invention. Often during this time I received feedback from numerous patent lawyers dealing with USPTO office actions and other actions of the USPTO. With this background and 34+ years as an examiner, I could be of great assistance in dealing with issues that may come up during the prosecution of an application before the USPTO.

In March of 2007, I joined a select team of technological experts, and founded the Patent Project Group ( http://www.patentprojectgroup.com/ ). During the development of this company I have had the occasion to network with several patent search companies and other e-commerce companies. I have used my expert knowledge in the aeronautics area to assist in the evaluation of several automated patent search engines. I have also been involved with James Madison University in Virginia in helping with areas of their developing Technology Transfer department. During this time I have had the opportunity to interact with numerous inventors and see some of their frustrations and wonders with the operation of the USPTO. I have also approached Penn State University and am pursuing the concept of using Patents as a research tool in the area of Academic research in the Aerospace area. I have also done numerous patent validity searches for various law firms involved in patent infringement suits, all of which were dropped by the patent holders.

You may ask: Why do I need such a person to do a detailed search before filling an application when the USPTO will do a search? A complete search can avoid a prolonged prosecution in the USPTO. The USPTO has an ever increasing backlog of patent applications and as a result is continually pressuring the examiners for more work and constantly hiring new examiners. This atmosphere increases the chances that your application will be examined by an inexperienced examiner or by one that feels pressured to get your application done quickly. This could result in a first action that applies art that barely meets the broad scope of your initial claims and could totally miss the heart of the invention. This results in years of prosecution with added office actions, re-filings and thousands of dollars in fees and related expenses. A search that develops the best prior art results in a strong patent that will stand up to future scrutiny, and be a more valuable intellectual property. An infringement lawsuit that comes up with better art and invalidates a patent can cost literally millions of dollars after an extended court battle. On the other hand if you find yourself the object of an infringement suit an experienced searcher can save you literally millions of dollars by potentially finding that overlooked reference that will invalidate the patent in question. I also have the background and knowledge to file a proper and affective Accelerated Examination documentation in the aerospace technology.

Mr. Kales is a graduate of Bates College in Lewiston, Maine(B.A., 1994) and The University of Connecticut School of Law (J.D., 1998). He concentrates and limits his practice to Virginia family law and domestic relations cases, including Collaborative Divorce and Collaborative Law, family mediation, preparation of separation and property settlement agreements, equitable distribution of property, child and spousal support, child custody and visitation, and prenuptial agreements. Having litigated family law cases for years, Mr. Kales helps clients to navigate their divorces with support and compassion, assisting them to reach the best solutions for themselves and their families.