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Firm Profile

Attorneys

Practice Areas

Employment Law

Home

Firm Profile

Attorneys

Practice Areas

Employment Law

Practice Areas

Please click on any of the following practice areas to learn more about the expert legal services we provide:

Personal Injury
Wrongful Death
Auto and Vehicle Accidents
Medical Malpractice
Defective Product Injuries
Job-Related Claims, Including:
     Employment Discrimination
     Age / Sex Discrimination Claims
Insurance Claims
Bankruptcy
Social Security Disability Appeals
Deceptive Trade Practices
Wills, Trusts, and Probate
Real Estate

Personal Injury                                                                          Back to Top
Our firm represents individuals injured because of the negligent or intentional behavior of another. Victims of personal injury are entitled to financial compensation for their medical and property expenses, incidental costs caused by the accident, and may be entitled to additional damages to cover future expenses, pain and suffering, or other issues. If you or a family member has been injured as a result of a defective product, medical care, or in a car accident or other accident, contact us to discuss your case.

When we handle your personal injury case, you can rest assured that your case is in the best of hands. Every client and every case is important to us. We welcome questions and feedback from our clients and we strive for your complete satisfaction.

Wrongful Death                                                                          Back to Top
"Wrongful Death" is a legal term that refers to situations when a person dies due to the negligence of another. Wrongful death cases may arise as a result of a variety of incidents, including car accidents and medical malpractice. The goal of our firm is to make sure that the survivor and beneficiaries are maximally compensated for their loss. In times of grief it is obviously difficult for family members to understand the importance of a prompt investigation of the circumstances of death, preservation of evidence, and identification of responsible parties. Let Wash & Thomas Attorneys speak for you.

Auto and Vehicle Accidents                                                        Back to Top
We have represented a large number of automobile accident victims. We take great pride in limiting our representation to plaintiffs and in representing no insurance companies involved in these claims. We are committed to treating each case, large or small, with the seriousness it deserves in order to assure that each of our clients receives the compensation that he or she deserves.

Medical Malpractice                                                                    Back to Top
A medical malpractice case involves injuries arising from the care or treatment rendered by a medical provider. Medical providers include physicians, nurses, hospitals, psychologists, x-ray technicians, and a variety of other medical professionals. There are many different kinds of medical malpractice: dispensing the wrong medicine or the wrong dose of medicine; improper reading of x-rays; transfusion errors; the misdiagnosis of a life-threatening condition; surgery on the wrong limb; accidents during surgery; infections related to treatment; birth trauma; preventable suicide; restraint-related injuries, or burns; falls and pressure ulcers. If you believe you've been the victim of a medical mistake, you should contact an attorney with experience in medical malpractice to evaluate and handle your case as quickly as possible. There are complicated and stringent statutes of limitations for medical malpractice cases that limit the amount of time an injured individual has to file a lawsuit.

Defective Product Injuries                                                         Back to Top
Our firm has years of experience and an excellent track record of representing individuals who have been injured as a result of an unsafe product that was designed, manufactured, sold, and / or furnished by a person or company. We assist those injured individuals in bringing their claims and being fairly compensated for their injuries. We will assist you in claims involving apparel, alcoholic beverages, firearms, food and agricultural products, machinery and tools, medical products and devices, motor vehicles, pharmaceutical products, and recreational products.

Job-Related Claims                                                                    Back to Top
Employment law covers a complex network of laws that control how employers must treat employees, former employees, and applicants for employment. Our attorneys have significant experience in interpreting and construing state and federal statutes, as well as case law in areas such as employment discrimination, age discrimination, affirmative action, sexual harassment, employee benefits, whistleblower litigation, wrongful discharge, employment contracts, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Family Medical Leave Act, the Occupational Safety and Health Act, and special laws governing municipal employment.

Insurance Claims                                                                        Back to Top
We represent insured individuals who have suffered a loss and need help obtaining payment from their insurance company. Sometimes the insurance company has denied the claim; sometimes they have provided an unfair settlement of a claim. Our firm has extensive experience in representing consumers and homeowners who have been cheated or treated unfairly by their insurance company. We handle all areas of insurance bad faith, including claims arising under homeowner, automobile, errors and omissions, medical, health, commercial general liability, and insurance policies of officers or directors. We are well known in this area of the law and have obtained outstanding results for our clients.

Bankruptcy                                                                                Back to Top
We represent individuals and commercial clients in Chapter 7, Chapter 13, and Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings, at both the state and federal level, that are initiated by either an insolvent individual or business, or creditors seeking to have the debtor's remaining assets distributed among the creditors, and thereby discharging the debtor from further obligation or restructuring, and reorganizing the insolvent's debt structure.

Social Security Disability Appeals                                                Back to Top
If you become disabled, Social Security Disability Insurance ("SSDI") provides income until your condition improves and guarantees income if it doesn't. It is not a government handout or welfare. It is insurance that you paid for during your working years. You are entitled to it based on mandatory payroll taxes that you have paid and your employer has matched. At Wash & Thomas Attorneys, we provide the knowledge and legal expertise to make the Social Security Disability process less confusing, less intimidating, and more convenient for people with disabilities.

When a worker covered by Social Security becomes disabled or blind, he or she may be entitled to receive disability benefits. In addition, certain family members may qualify for benefits based on the disabled worker's earnings record. Some of the family members who may qualify for such benefits based upon your own earnings record include:

1. Your unmarried children under age 18, or under age 19 if attending high school full time.
2. Your unmarried child 18 years of age or older, when that child was disabled before reaching age 22.
3. Your spouse age 62 or older.
4. Your spouse of any age who is caring for a child of yours under age 16, or who is disabled and also receiving disability checks.

An issue of critical importance to most disabled workers is the availability of health insurance. Fortunately, regardless of your age, if you qualify for Social Security Disability benefits, you also become eligible for Medicare, including Part A (hospital benefits) and Part B (medical benefits) once you have received SSDI benefits for 24 months.

However, the criteria for determining eligibility for Social Security Disability benefits are extremely strict and the Social Security Administration is reluctant to award such benefits even in the face of what you believe is compelling proof that you are, indeed, disabled. While private disability insurance may pay for short-term disability or partial disability, or provide benefits when you can't work at your regular job, Social Security does not. Under Social Security's eligibility rules, you must be completely unable to do any kind of substantial gainful work for which you are suited, and the disability must be expected to last for at least a year or result in death.

If you believe you are disabled, you should promptly contact your local Social Security office and submit an application for disability benefits. If you are denied benefits, you should contact an attorney immediately to preserve your rights.

Deceptive Trade Practices                                                         Back to Top
Our attorneys are well versed in unfair / deceptive business practices matters. We pursue and defend a full range of consumer complaints against banks, real estate brokers, motor vehicle dealers, and other businesses.

Wills, Trusts, and Probate                                                          Back to Top
We handle a variety of estate planning matters, including planning for the distribution of an individual's property at his or her death and taking into account wills, taxes, insurance, property, and trusts so as to gain the maximum benefit of all laws, while, at the same time, carrying out the person's wishes. By way of example, estate planning may include wills, spousal and children's trusts, insurance trusts, special needs trusts, revocable living trusts, irrevocable trusts, advance medical directives, powers of attorney (general, special, and medical), as well as an array of sophisticated planning techniques used to protect assets from unnecessary probate costs and taxation.

In addition to estate planning, we also assist clients with probate and estate administration. Probate is the legal process by which a person's debts are paid and assets are distributed upon her or his death. Estate administration includes the probate process, as well as non-probate transfers of the deceased's assets. Individual state laws direct the probate court on how to distribute the deceased's estate. State laws and procedures vary greatly, so it is important to consult a firm with expertise in this area of the law to ensure that the deceased's assets are distributed correctly.

Real Estate                                                                              Back to Top
Our firm provides a full range of real estate law services to commercial and individual clients.

We work with developers, owners, property managers, tenants, financial institutions, and investors in all types of transactions from routine purchase agreements to complicated development plans. Among our clients are buyers and sellers of real property, landlords and tenants, and investment and property-management companies. Our real estate practice includes:

Acquisitions
Brokerage commission disputes
Clean-up reimbursements
Construction-contract issues and litigation
Contract negotiations
Debt restructurings
Foreclosures
Lease negotiations and contracts
Loan workouts
Project finance, including mortgages, sale-leasebacks, like-kind exchange and non-traditional financing sources
Property-management issues
Title-insurance matters
Zoning issues

We also assist individuals in the process of buying or selling a home, co-op, or condominium. We provide clients with an all inclusive service all the way from preparing and negotiating a contract of sale to coordinating with the title insurance company to insure a risk-free transaction. Without the proper legal guidance, the process can be frustrating, overwhelming, and more costly than necessary. When you retain our firm, you not only get the technical competence you require, you also get a firm with extensive experience in dealing with the human element in real estate transactions. We can resolve problems in a practical way.

Wash & Thomas Attorneys
6613 Sanger Avenue
Waco, TX 76710
Phone: 800-749-3612 or 254-776-3611
Fax: 254-776-9217
E-mail: danwash@washthomas.com

Danny C. Wash
   danwash@washthomas.com

Frank D. Thomas, Jr.
   fthomas@washthomas.com

Merryl Wash Jones
   merryl@washthomas.com

Gerald L. Bolfing, of Counsel
glbolfing@washthomas.com