Practices

Real Estate

Real estate transactions are among the most important transactions with regard to both personal and business wealth accumulation. Doug Marshall has over three decades of experience in this field and is experienced in both "litigation avoidance" and matters that require litigation for both buyers and sellers of real estate.

Most transactions can be reviewed for potential "problem areas" for $500 or less and caution spent, now, may save clients thousands, hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars, later down the road, depending on the size and complexity of the transaction involved.

Real estate decisions in "hot" economies, can involve impulsive and bad decision making. Doug is skilled in working with realtors, title companies, other attorneys and parties to help develop sound real estate transactions that avoid future litigation, surprises and disappointments. The goal is never to "destroy" a deal, but, rather to make the deal better and reduce uncertainty and risk for all concerned.

Spending a few hundred dollars for legal input before transactions are closed is, truly, one of the best investments you can make to avoid future emotional, financial and other types of unforeseen problems.

Car Crashes

Many purported “personal injury” lawyers are not, in fact experienced in complicated insurance and products liability law that can mean the difference between obtaining a $25,000 settlement and a multi-million dollar settlement or jury verdict. On numerous occasions, Doug has helped clients obtain large verdicts and settlements in cases where other lawyers saw nothing. This is not an accident. Doug has been working with some of the finest lawyers and experts in the United States since his college days in the early 1980s. Some of these cases have obtained national and international attention and include powerful insurance and corporate interests such as Ford Motor Company, Hartford Insurance Companies, the Bridgestone Firestone Tire and Rubber Company, Associated Aviation Underwriters, General Motors Corporation, Daimler Chrysler Corporation, the State of Montana and the United States of America, to name just a few. While each case is different, it is Doug’s goal to “leave no stone unturned” when it comes to legal theories of liability and insurance coverage. Call or text today, to see if he can help you with your particular case.

Wrongful Death

People sometimes say that “no amount of money” can replace a life. This is absolutely true. However, money can and does buy some measure of justice and peace of mind in certain cases. No one wants to be involved in a wrongful death case. However, if you find yourself in a situation where the wrongful act or omission of another person or corporation has cause the loss of one of your loved ones, make sure you hire a lawyer who is experienced in obtaining meaningful justice to surviving family members and loved ones where someone’s life has been lost because of a product defect, intentional act or negligent act.

Professional Malpractice

No one wants to have to sue their doctor, lawyer, nurse, hospital, accountant or financial advisor for a simple mistake. Sometimes mistakes are unavoidable and a natural result of existing

circumstances. During other times, however, some mistakes are not excusable and lead to real hardship and damages, sometimes, even death. Professional malpractice law has special rules, usually involves complicated insurance law and, sometimes may lead to other dire professional consequences for the offending party. Doug is experienced in this area and can help you decide, whether you may have a professional malpractice claim and, if so, if you, truly want to bring such a claim.

Workers’ Compensation

While many lawyers profess some degree of competence in the area of workers’ compensation law, the number of lawyers who are also experience in construction law, products liability, Work Place Safety, civil rights, professional malpractice and personal injury law is much smaller. Oftentimes, a workers’ compensation claim may just be the “tip of the iceberg” with regard to the compensation available to an injured worker or the family member of a deceased worker. Doug Marshall comes from a working class, construction background and has worked along side workers who have been injured or killed on the job. He is passionate about obtaining the full measure of justice his clients are entitled to in this area because, often times, ordinary people have nothing except their ability to work. Once this ability is gone, the worker’s life suffers, as does that of his family. Prior to the Labor Movement in the early part of the 20th Century if a worker was injured or killed on the job, not much could be done for either the worker or his family. This has changed in the past 120 years but many lawyers are not aware of the myriad of legal “tools” that are available to help workers and/or their families obtain real justice following an on the job injury or death.

Trucking Accidents

Trucking accidents are specialized variety of automobile crash litigation where company policies, driving records, prescription drugs and federal transportation regulations and a special texture to negligence, insurance and products liability law. Doug grew up in the trucking business and his father was a commercial truck driver for most of his adult life. Trucking accidents are often horrific in nature because of the forces and speeds typically involved.

Probate Litigation

Probate litigation is often both emotional and relational. Often times childhood and family differences and grudges come to light in this unique form of family law litigation. Doug is experienced in navigating these treacherous and sacred waters to make sure that his clients obtain what they are entitled to through a will, trust, the laws of intestacy (where no will or trust is involved) and the various combinations of legal areas that present themselves. Often times, matters of probate litigation and wrongful death law intersect and require a broad range of experience and expertise that Mr. Marshall has acquired over the past forty years.

Airplane Crashes

Doug has been involved with a number of catastrophic multi-million dollar air craft crashes since 1982. These cases typically involve the law of wrongful death, survivorship, negligence, products liability, insurance and probate law, as well as knowing how to navigate the complex world of litigation that is created when formal government crash investigations are involved.

Mediation

Doug is experienced representing clients in mediation and serving as a mediator for other clients where he has been judicially approved to serve as a mediator. Doug’s broad range of experience in injury, criminal, and matters involving wrongful death, together with his love of “closing files” and avoiding the stress, expense, time and uncertainty of Montana court proceedings as well as his general empathetic nature and skills as listener make him an excellent choice in matters involving formal or informal mediation, either with or without the presence of other lawyers.

Criminal Law

Doug has taken selective criminal law cases since be began his own practice in 1994 and enjoys helping those individuals who have accepted that they have made a mistake and do not want to live out the rest of their lives as “a criminal.” Many criminal defense lawyers do not understand

that prosecutors and judges, really, want the best results possible for persons who have been charged with or convicted of a crime, although their duties, lie, also to the public and the sound administration of justice. Doug particularly enjoys helping people who are committed to becoming and staying both sober and drug free, as typically drugs, alcohol and, sometimes, mental illness are at the root of most criminal conduct.

Civil Rights

Doug has tried numerous successful cases defending the civil rights of his clients. This is an area where even clients with relatively slight injuries or emotional distress injuries can obtain significant justice because of the provisions of 42 U.S.C. Section 1983 which is part of Federal Civil Rights Acts legislation that followed the Civil War and provides, typically, the payment of attorneys fees for successful litigations pursuant to the provisions of 42 U.S.C. Section 1988.

Insurance Law

In the modern world of personal injury litigation, most cases involve interpretation of both insurance contracts and court cases that interpret these contracts and legislation that regulates how insurance companies are allowed to do business. Doug has worked in the throes of these disputes for over a quarter of a century and has helped deserving clients obtain tens of millions of dollars from insurance companies who agreed to provide indemnification coverage for their insureds who subsequently engaged in conduct that led to serious injury and/or death.

Appeals

Although not his favorite area, Doug has handled a number of appeals in both state and federal courts over the past twenty six years. Regardless of what some lawyers may tell you, the vast majority of appeals uphold the lower court ruling. Some cases, by their nature, however, are destined to be the subject of an appeal, if not otherwise resolved by pre-trial or post trial settlements. Appeals, however, are sometimes important where the parties have dramatically differing points of view as to what the law “should be” with regard to a particular set of facts. Also, sometimes, both judges and juries make mistakes, and these mistakes can be corrected by an appeal to a higher court. Most of the time, however, settlements negate the need for involvement with a higher Court.

Products Liability

Doug has been helping clients obtain justice in the products liability area for over thirty seven years and has assisted with and/or been lead counsel in numerous multi-million dollar products liability cases against major corporate defendants from around the world. Products liability is a complicated area of the law that can provide justice to injured persons or the families of persons killed by the use of unreasonably dangerous or defective products. This area of the law often requires expert testimony and Doug is skilled at working with experts in many different areas and are among the best and brightest in their respective fields. Doug is also skilled in helping to develop up and coming expert witnesses who are new to the Courtroom experience, and has worked with and against many of the best and brightest product liability lawyers in the Country.

Trials

National statistics suggest that upwards of 97% of cases settle without the need for a trial. This is, mostly, consistent with my experience over the past three decades in the Montana legal system. What this statistic does not tell you, is that, sometimes, a case must be adequately prepared for trial before the parties are ready to talk about a fair settlement. Doug Marshall enjoys trying cases before both judges and juries. He understands, though, that this is not a pleasant experience for his clients whose lives hang in the balance. Accordingly, he works to communicate, carefully with clients at each stage of the journey to explore potential settlements and to determine how committed his client(s) is/are to obtaining justice in the courtroom. Doug has tried numerous criminal and civil cases in state and federal courts across Montana. He has experiences, sometimes hard learned, about what judges and juries want to hear- and what they don’t. Lawyers with less experience, sometimes have unrealistic views of what constitutes a “good” case and a “bad” case, because they simply, do not have enough experience to make a sound decision. Doug has been involved in dozens of cases that have settled or tried for tens of millions of dollars, and some painful losses as well. He will work to make sure you understand these experiences so you can make decisions accordingly.