Attorneys for Brannen, Searcy and Smith, LLP practice civil law with a wide variety of specialization areas. Our primary areas of practice include personal injury defense litigation, construction defense, professional liability defense, workers' compensation, commercial banking, business entities, creditors' rights, real estate, taxation, trusts and estates, and mediation services.
LITIGATION
Our litigation practice includes plaintiff matters and extensive defense litigation, both for insurance carriers and self-insured clients. Our expertise includes municipal and professional malpractice, liability defense, and substantial workers' compensation defense for both insurance companies and self-insured clients. The firm handles civil litigation in federal and state courts for both Georgia and South Carolina, including the pursuit of collections when needed.
CORPORATE, COMMERCIAL, TAX AND BANKRUPTCY
The firm also has expertise in the banking industry offering counsel on federal regulations, lending transactions, corporate financing and other types of business and commercial law.
We advise many corporate and professional corporation clients on general, tax and labor matters, including ERISA, FUTA, and pension and profit sharing planning. The firm handles problems of business entity formation and dissolution on a daily basis. We also handle matters involving state and federal income tax as well as estate and gift tax matters.
REAL ESTATE, TRUSTS AND ESTATES
Our real estate practice handles both commercial and residential matters. The commercial real estate practice includes representation of large investment tracts, developers of shopping centers, motels, commercial office buildings as well as lenders, owners and investors. The residential side of the real estate practice includes representation of both lenders and buyers. The firm handles trust and estate matters, including tax planning, estate planning and general representation matters for trusts and estates of all sizes.
BSS Areas of Expertise:
Personal Injury Defense Litigation: Personal injury law involves injury which is caused accidentally by someone’s failure to use reasonable care. Brannen, Searcy & Smith, LLP handles a wide range of personal injury lawsuits including injury and wrongful death cases arising from automobile, bike and pedestrian collisions, trucking accidents, boat and airplane accidents, construction accidents and OSHA violations, premises liability, product liability, nursing home liability, toxic and mass torts, medical malpractice, and other forms of negligence.
Construction Defense: Our expertise in construction defense covers building improvements of all sizes and scope from basic, residential work to enormous, complex projects. Our attorneys also specialize in construction defense cases that focus on real property, contracts, torts, business organizations, labor, tax, and conflicts of laws.
Professional Liability Defense: Brannen, Searcy & Smith, LLP attorneys represent professionals against claims involving medical malpractice, accounting malpractice, legal malpractice, and professional regulation and disciplinary actions. We have represented small, medium and large accounting firms, individual lawyers and law firms, and physicians and practice groups. We also have expertise representing architects and engineers. Professional negligence is one of the fastest growing practice areas in litigation.
Workers' Compensation: Worker Compensation Law is a system of laws that protect an employer from liability when an employee sustains injuries while at work or contracts work related diseases. Our firm provides legal representation in disputes covering wage replacement benefits, medical treatment, vocational rehabilitation and other legal issues involving work injuries or occupational diseases.
Commercial Banking: Brannen, Searcy & Smith, LLP represents banking and other commercial finance clients in lending transactions, loan workouts, mortgages and foreclosures, financing and venture capital. We have both state and federal expertise in commercial banking regulations.
Probate: Our probate representation helps clients transfer property upon a person's death and provides guidance during this court-supervised process. The basic method of probating an estate includes collecting all probate property of the decedent, paying all debts, claims and taxes owed by the estate, collecting all rights to income, dividends, etc., settling any disputes; and distributing/transferring the remaining property to the heirs. Brannen, Searcy & Smith, LLP provides legal counsel on all aspects of probate.
Bankruptcy: Brannen, Searcy & Smith, LLP helps clients navigate complex bankruptcy laws. Bankruptcy provides a legal method for an individual or business to either wipe out debts by liquidating assets and distributing them among creditors or to resolve them by developing a court-approved reorganization plan or other plan to repay creditors over time. Our attorneys provide representation in all types of bankruptcy proceedings including both voluntary, where the debtor files, and involuntary, where the creditor files.
Creditors' Rights: Brannen, Searcy & Smith, LLP provides representation to creditors and legal advice on strategies and procedures to collect debts and judgments. Creditors have the right to file a lawsuit against a debtor and have specific bankruptcy protections. For example, creditors have the right to share in the debtor's bankruptcy estate and this may include tax refunds and stock options. Our attorneys provide legal advice specific to Georgia as well as a number of other states.
Real Estate: Brannen, Searcy & Smith, LLP provides representation in all facets of real estate law including legal issues relating to acquiring, financing, developing, managing, property disputes, leases, broker issues, land use and zoning, as well as leasing and selling commercial and residential real property of all kinds.
Product Liability: Products should be safe. When they are not, Brannen, Searcy & Smith, LLP offers high quality legal representation. Product liability claims can be based on negligence, strict liability, or breach of warranty of fitness. A manufacturer or anyone who has a responsibility for producing the product can be held liable. Our attorneys provide expert advice in this area.
Taxation: Tax law is complex and ever-changing. Our attorneys help clients understand and navigate these often complicated statutes. Brannen, Searcy & Smith, LLP offers legal advice on the latest federal, state and local tax laws and their effects.
Trusts and Estates: Brannen, Searcy & Smith, LLP helps clients create an estate plan to manage assets while the person is alive and assure their appropriate distribution after death. We advise clients how to plan for an orderly administration and disbursement of a person’s estate that minimizes taxes and distributes assets according to plan. Our attorneys are also experts at creating trusts so that property, both real and personal, can be held by one person for the benefit of another. Many trusts are created as an alternative to or in conjunction with a will and other elements of estate planning.
Mediation Services: Most civil (noncriminal) disputes can be mediated, including those involving contracts, leases, small business ownership, employment and construction defect claims. Brannen, Searcy & Smith, LLP provides an expert, highly trained mediator for a broad range of disputes.
