AREAS OF PRACTICE
Sharp Law Firm provides comprehensive legal services in all areas of civil litigation, litigation management, litigation support, and dispute resolution, with particular focus on the following areas:
General Civil Litigation
Our firm is highly experienced in trying general civil liability claims in both South Carolina and federal courts. We are well-versed in a wide range of civil matters, including personal injury, automobile, construction, trucking, transportation, premises liability, and wrongful death cases. We have more than 20 years of litigation experience. Our success is perhaps best measured by the passion, dedication and experience we bring to our cases.
We keep up with changes in the law, technology and anything else that can bear upon your case. We will help you map out the legal strategy most likely to achieve the result you want. That means fully exploring pretrial and alternative resolution options, and being fully prepared to provide strong and effective representation in the courtroom. We can also provide advice and counsel in the assessment of liability exposure for litigated matters, claims and policy review and implementation, develop a plan of action, including a budget and accurate timeline, to resolve litigated matters and foster relationships with opposite counsel, co-counsel and courts to understand and connect with diverse backgrounds and jurisdictions throughout the state for the benefit of our clients.
commercial Litigation
We are well-versed in advising and litigating on behalf of individuals and businesses, large and small, involved in commercial transactions and disputes. We have handled, for example, matters involving breach of contract and other business torts. We understand your business and seek to minimize the disruption of litigation. Time is money, and we will work to save you both. We employ innovative thinking to seek successful resolutions based on practical solutions. Whether that solution involves pre-trial negotiation or aggressive representation at trial, we look for ways to minimize the disruption to your business.
Mary is always looking for creative ways to resolve disputes as quickly and cost-efficiently as possible, and that is why she is a strong proponent of early alternative dispute resolution procedures such as mediation. However, when attempts at informal resolution fail, she is dedicated to aggressively protecting her clients' interests, from the earliest phases of litigation through trial.
PERSONAL INJURY
When you’ve been injured due to someone else’s negligence, you need to contact an attorney as soon as possible to protect your rights and interests. At Sharp Law Firm, we know how to help you get full compensation.
If it’s in your interest to settle the case, we’ll help you get the best settlement possible. But we’re also prepared to fight for you through a trial and appeal, if that’s what it takes to see you made whole.
We can handle every type of personal injury case, up to and including wrongful death. The kinds of injuries we help with include those resulting from:
• Car, truck and motorcycle accidents
• Slip-and-fall accidents
• Burns
• Defective products
• Medical malpractice
• Dog bites and attacks
Insurance Coverage And litigation
Insurance coverage cases can be bewilderingly complex. We understand the challenges insurance carriers and their insured face and can help navigate the law in this area, as well as provide professional advice and representation to protect the client's interests during a legal dispute. Sharp Law Firm collaborates with insurance carriers and their insured to minimize the risk of litigation, as well as effectively defend current claims. Our legal services stretch far beyond courtroom representation. We can handle negotiations, mediations, arbitrations, and trials regarding any disputes in the insurance coverage realm. Our firm begins with an analysis of current policies and practices. Then, we are fully prepared to advise you as to the best course of action given the details of your case, and then execute the plan to completion, wherever the case may go, including all state and federal courts in South Carolina.
Commercial Transportation and Trucking
Our firm can manage, resolve and defend claims against trucking companies and truck drivers. In years of litigating claims at every level, from property damage and minor injuries to catastrophic losses and multiple fatalities, we have obtained settlements favorable to our clients. Our experience in evaluating all aspects of a claim and our aggressive approach to prelitigation management result in prompt, fair and cost-efficient resolution of claims.
From the time of the accident response and investigation through the final resolution, our comprehensive, hands-on approach enables our clients to manage every potential claim.
Community Association/HOA Law
The law in general is about helping people live together in harmony in a society with full understanding of expectations and minimal conflict. The most local, personal and immediate level on which those elements operate is the places where we live right next to each other – whether in subdivisions, planned communities, condominiums or timeshares.
Sharp Law Firm can help you anticipate and cope with legal issues as they arise. Remember, even though your homeowner board members are unpaid volunteers, they can be exposed to lawsuits. Let us help you avoid that problem, and deal with it when it cannot be avoided.
Construction Litigation
Our experience in handling construction-related matters, particularly those involving construction defect claims, runs deep and wide. We counsel clients in an effort to avoid or prevent the development of disputes. However, when disputes arise, we are experienced in preparing claims and resolving these disputes through litigation, arbitration, mediation and negotiation. We coordinate and lead the array of technical experts and claims consultants often needed during the resolution of a substantial construction dispute.
Premises Liability
Businesses and property owners can find themselves facing claims resulting from allegedly defective conditions on their property or the alleged misconduct of their employees. Our firm has the experience necessary to vigorously defend against these claims and successfully resolve each case. We have experience in defending premises liability cases, representing hotels, hospitals, restaurants, construction companies, nightclubs, landlords, tenants, commercial businesses, and other property owners against a variety of claims, including negligent security, slip and fall, and assault and battery.
MEDIATION
At Sharp Law Firm, we understand that there are alternatives to litigation. We pride ourselves in helping parties resolve their disputes through alternative measures, and Sharp Law Firm is prepared to help you pursue such a course when you desire it – or when it is ordered by a court. With the rising costs of litigation and court fees, many businesses would rather retain the services of an impartial person with tested experience to assist in reaching a resolution from which all parties may receive a benefit. Mary Sharp is certified as a mediator in South Carolina. She can help you work through complex issues to reach solutions. She has the communication skills, professional abilities, and temperament to competently mediate disputes in an effective, ethical manner. Few things are completely black and white, and sometimes a middle ground is available. Sharp Law Firm can help you find it.
Appellate Advocacy
So you’ve won your case in court, and you breathe a sigh of relief. But sometimes that’s not the end, and you have to face an appeal to a higher court. Other times, your trial outcome may not be what you’d hoped for, and you’re looking for another chance to win. We are fully prepared to help you understand your options and the relative strength of your case, and then to handle the matter through the next steps. Mary Sharp is admitted to practice in the South Carolina Appeals and Supreme courts, as well as to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit and the U.S. Supreme Court. So wherever your case may go, she is prepared to continue representing you.