Practice Areas

• Corporate and Business Law and Litigation
• Employment Law
• Family Law
• Insurance Defense
• Premises Liability
• Products Liability Law
• Real Estate
• Trusts and Estates
• Workers Compensation

Corporate and Business Law and Litigation - Corporate and business representation with emphasis on business litigation including contract, officer and director liability, products liability, employer liability, and employment discrimination, advertising liability and unfair competition, construction litigation, and arbitration, and alternative dispute resolution representation. We also represent clients with respect to business organizations including corporations, partnerships, limited liability companies, joint venture, and certain transactions including business sales, acquisitions, mergers and similar transactions including companies being acquired whose shares are not publicly traded. We regularly advise and represent clients in contract negotiations, drafting and preparation and a variety of routine issues that confront business clients on a regular basis.

Employment Law - The practice of Employment Law includes a complex network of federal and state statutes and regulations that govern how employers are required to treat applicants for employment, employees, and former employees with regard to the terms and conditions of employment and other matters. The attorneys who practice in our Employment Law Practice Group have significant experience in the interpretation of these state and federal regulations, as well as the related case law. Since McLain & Merritt P.C. is primarily a litigation firm, our attorneys have extensive experience representing employers before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and defending suits filed in state and federal court involving alleged employment discrimination, sexual harassment, wrongful discharge, employment contract litigation, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended, the Americans With Disabilities Act, the Age Discrimination and Employment Act, and other related areas. Our practice in this area also includes providing pre-litigation advice and seminars to employers. As part of this service, we provide seminars for the training of management level employees with specific emphasis on how to structure the employment setting to avoid claims and litigation. Our training inventory also includes educational materials to be used by employers to comply with the affirmative defense requirements set forth in the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in City of Boca Raton vs. Beth Ann Faragher for introducing anti-harassment/discrimination issues to employees. The area of Employment Law is one of the fastest growing areas of litigation in this country, and is an area in which we place a significant emphasis. We invite you to contact us if you have a question in this area.

Family Law - Our firm handles a full range of Family Law matters including adoption, divorce, separation, premarital agreements, paternity, custody, and support. In addition, we are available to mediate and arbitrate Family Law matters and to perform independent case evaluations.

Insurance Defense - Our Insurance Defense Practice Group provides a wide variety of services to several insurance companies, specializing in a variety of coverage areas. Our clients include property and casualty companies, personal lines carriers, commercial carriers, and professional E&O carriers. The experience of our Insurance Defense attorneys runs a very wide gamut and includes issues of employer liability coverage, professional malpractice coverage, i.e., medical malpractice, automobile liability insurance, product liability coverage, garage keepers coverage, commercial business coverage, and commercial general liability coverage. As part of our service in this particular area, we provide ongoing continuing education seminars, which have been approved by the Georgia Insurance Commissioner, for insurance adjusters and risk managers. While our practice in this area primarily consists of defending insureds against whom various sorts of claims have been filed, we also have an active group of attorneys, who provide coverage opinions and representation to insurance companies on coverage matters between the companies and their insureds. In addition, we have extensive experience defending insurance companies in first party suits brought by insureds for failure to pay claims or for the alleged negligent failure to settle claims within policy limits. We also have significant experience with excess coverage and reinsurance issues. Our Insurance Defense Group is one of our oldest and best-established groups. There is virtually no issue with which we are not familiar. We invite you to contact us if you have a question in this area.

Premises Liability - The firm's premises liability section represents national and regional retailers and restaurants in slip and falls, merchandise display claims, malicious prosecution, negligent security and related claims arising out of the operation of a retail establishment. We handle these cases throughout the state of Georgia in both Federal and State courts. In an effort to reduce the number of claims, we conduct safety seminars for many of these clients. We invite you to contact us if you have a question in this area.

Products Liability Law - Products liability claims can be brought against manufacturers, assemblers, sellers, and anyone else involved in the design, manufacture, sale or distribution of an allegedly defective product. These claims can be based on negligence, strict liability or an alleged breach of warranty, and can seek damages for both personal injuries and property damage. Most often, plaintiffs allege that the product was defective as a result of a design or manufacturing issue or that the product was defective because insufficient warnings or instructions were not provided by the manufacturer, seller, etc.Georgia, and other jurisdictions, have enacted comprehensive products liability statutes and regulations. In addition, there are numerous industry standards which have to be considered. Typically these claims are based on an alleged violation of a state statute, but they can be filed in either state or federal court. Because target defendants are often involved, products liability claims can create significant exposure for the defendant. Typically, defense of products liability claims involves the use of expert witnesses and requires an in-depth knowledge of the related technical information. The defense of these claims is most often successful where a team approach is used involving qualified attorneys, dedicated staff personnel, and retained experts with knowledge in the pertinent field.

McLain & Merritt, P.C. has substantial experience defending products liability suits on behalf of insurance companies as well as self-insured corporate defendants. In addition to defending products liability claims, the attorneys at McLain & Merritt are qualified through experience and expertise in counseling corporate defendants on related issues, such as labeling and providing appropriate warnings. This service is intended to avoid or minimize potential claims and to establish procedures to assist in the defense of future claims. We invite you to contact us if you have a question in this area.

Real Estate - The firm's real estate department represents mortgage and construction lenders, relocation companies, brokerage firms, owners and developers, purchasers and sellers in both commercial and residential transactions, as well as complex transactions involving the acquisition, development, leasing and sale of commercial properties. Our commercial real estate work includes the representation of multi-family apartment owners and developers, condominium developers, hotel developers, and national retailers. We also act as a local title agent for national title companies. We have experience in the representation of both landlords and tenants in office leases, retail leases and warehouse/industrial leases. Our firm acts as an approved title insurance agent for Chicago, Commonwealth, Fidelity and First American Title Insurance Companies.

The residential real estate practice at McLain & Merritt, P.C. includes the representation of lenders, sellers, buyers, builders, and developers in all types of residential real estate transactions, including acquisition/development loans, construction loans and permanent loans. We also represent developers in the preparation of subdivision, condominium and mixed-use covenants and restrictions.

In addition to our main office in Buckhead, our real estate group maintains two additional satellite offices to accomodate its clients located at:

Trusts and Estates Practice: This practice includes preparation of Wills, trusts and other documents necessary to put clients' plans in effect, taking into consideration their wishes and tax concerns, as well as the probate of estates. We begin the estate planning process with our clients by asking them to complete a questionnaire that is designed to collect necessary information in a concise, simple form. This allows the clients to answer the questions at home, where records are available and discussion between spouses can be open, and saves the clients a trip to our office and the cost of an attorney's time to ask the same questions. When the clients return the completed questionnaire, the responses are reviewed and the clients are called to discuss any questions and our recommendations as to the structure of their Wills and other plan documents. We ask clients to obtain beneficiary designation forms for all insurance policies and tax-deferred plans, such as IRA's, so that these can be coordinated with the overall plan. Drafts are prepared and sent to the client for review, again at home on their own time. If the clients request a conference, usually due to special issues related to second marriages, we are certainly happy to meet with them at any point in the process. However, in most situations, the clients review the drafts, call with any final questions and then make an appointment to review and execute the plan. Most clients are very happy to need only one trip to our office and to save the fees incurred by an initial information-gathering conference. After execution, Wills are downloaded on a disk so that future changes can be made with minimal effort and cost. In addition to this basic process, we work with clients to prepare trusts, partnerships, limited liability companies and corporations when appropriate to the clients' needs, and we are available to help the family of a deceased client probate the Will and administer the estate.

Workers Compensation - The firm defends employers, insurers, and third-party administrators in workers' compensation claims throughout the state. McLain & Merritt also provides clients with representation in recovery of subrogation liens pursuant to O.C.G.A. §34-9-11.1. As an additional client service, the workers' compensation section of the firm conducts seminars approved for Continuing Education credits by the Georgia Insurance Commissioner's office. The firm also publishes a newsletter that addresses current issues in workers' compensation.