Portsmouth Law Firm

The smallest of Virginia’s coastal cities, Portsmouth is a historic community with a decidedly contemporary outlook. Its streets are lined with both antique homes and modern businesses, including the first medical CBD dispensary in the Commonwealth. Convenient waterway and rail access, a strong digital infrastructure, and skilled workforce provide a quality foundation for industries like health care and offshore wind manufacturing. 

Poole Brooke Plumlee PC has an office in the TowneBank Building at 200 High Street. Our experienced attorneys can provide you with quality support for your legal needs, from administrative law and alternative dispute resolution to personal injury representation and estate planning. Our practice areas are outlined below: if you need counsel or representation in any of these legal specialities, please call (757) 393-4049 to schedule a consultation. 

Administrative Law

We actively represent clients in matters before city, county, state, and federal government agencies and administrative tribunals. The attorneys in our administrative law practice handle a wide range of matters, including applications for business permits and licenses, responses to requests for proposals and bid solicitations, condemnation proceedings, violation proceedings, and enforcement proceedings.

Additionally, our administrative lawyers have broad experience representing the interests of our clients in rulemaking proceedings. If you have been denied a business license, cited for noncompliance with a zoning rule or building code, or want to make your voice heard when important decisions are being made, we can help.

Alternative Dispute Resolution

Litigation can be lengthy, costly, and financially damaging to individuals and businesses alike. Parties can usually resolve their disputes outside of court by using alternative dispute resolution methods such as arbitration, mediation, and collaborative law.   

• Mediation: Neutral mediators facilitate communication between the parties and assist them in achieving a mutually satisfactory outcome. Participants generally have more control over the results than they would in court.

• Arbitration: Arbitration, like mediation, is confidential, but it is a more formal process. A neutral arbitrator hears evidence and arguments from both parties. Then they make a decision that may be binding or non-binding.

• Collaborative Law: Divorce and family law disputes are often settled through this private process. Aside from specially trained attorneys, child psychologists, financial advisors, and mental health experts may also be involved in the proceedings.

Our Portsmouth lawyers can serve as arbitrators or mediators or represent clients in ADR proceedings.

Bankruptcy

When you experience a financial downturn due to job loss, a troubled economy, or even a personal crisis like divorce, it can affect your ability to pay your bills. Filing for Chapter 7 or 13 bankruptcy can give you the debt relief you need to rebuild financially. 

The bankruptcy chapter you file will largely depend on how much debt you owe, your current job situation and outlook, and the assets you own. A bankruptcy attorney at our Portsmouth law firm will review all of these factors with you and guide you through the filing process.

Business Law

Whether you are starting a new business or growing an existing one, you face a variety of challenges, mainly in the areas of taxation, personal liability, and management/operational control. At Poole Brooke Plumlee, we have the skill and experience necessary to handle complex business transactions, including:

• Buying, selling, or merging a business 
• Employee relations
• Acquisition of financing
• Negotiation of commercial leases
• Commercial real estate purchases
• Contract drafting, negotiation, and review
• Land use, development, and zoning issues
• Entertainment law matters, including trademarks and copyrighting

We also handle a wide range of business/commercial litigation matters. Our team can assist you in resolving business disputes, shareholder/partnership conflicts, and real estate disputes, among others.

Car Accidents

An automobile accident can cause significant physical, emotional, and financial damage to a person. Dealing with the insurance company, paying your medical bills, or missing work, and losing valuable income can all be overwhelming, and you shouldn’t have to deal with it alone.

An experienced attorney can help you understand your possible legal options after a serious car crash. The car accident lawyers at our Portsmouth law firm have years of experience helping accident victims throughout the state and the Hampton Roads metropolitan area. Our services are personalized and we do not charge fees unless we obtain compensation for you.

Casualty Defense & Workers’ Compensation

Workers’ compensation claims can be costly. At Poole Brooke Plumlee, we defend insured parties in personal injury and property damage lawsuits arising from alleged acts of negligence. Having represented employers before the Virginia Workers’ Compensation Commission, the Court of Appeals, and the Supreme Court of Virginia, our attorneys can protect your interests in similar circumstances.

Collections

An organization’s ability to maintain healthy financial operations depends on managing collections promptly and efficiently. Our goal at Poole Brooke Plumlee is to help creditors maximize their recovery while controlling costs through a variety of collection methods. Our collection attorneys assist companies in evaluating their options, assessing the likelihood of recovery, and developing a course of action consistent with their objectives.

Commercial Real Estate

We assist our clients, which include businesses, construction firms, and government entities, with every aspect of their commercial real estate transactions, from finding a suitable property to closing the deal. As Virginia real estate attorneys, we offer legal services like the following:

• Negotiating and drafting contracts that protect your rights 
• Identification of and compliance with all applicable regulations during the highly involved due diligence process
• Financing and lender negotiation
• Litigation

We have successfully represented parties in the purchase and sale of retail space, industrial property, vacant land, apartment buildings, warehouses, office buildings, multifamily developments, and other commercial real estate properties.

Employment Law

Poole Brooke Plumlee represents employers in all aspects of the employer-employee relationship.  We have experienced employment lawyers who can advise you on current labor laws and create plans to avoid litigation. If litigation does occur, we will stand up for your rights in court. Other services include:

• Drafting and negotiating employment contracts and independent contractor agreements
• Employee handbook preparation
• Defense in harassment, discrimination, and wage and hour lawsuits
• Litigating breach of employment contracts.

Health Care Law

The health care law attorneys at our Portsmouth law firm represent individuals and entities from every corner of the healthcare industry. We serve a broad range of clients, ranging from individual practitioners to large medical and dental groups, hospitals, pharmacies, medical staff organizations, health care trade associations, long-term care facilities, and home health care agencies. Our attorneys are able to deftly handle a wide range of health care business, transactional, licensing, compliance, criminal, and litigation matters.

Intellectual Property

In today’s business climate, ideas are often more valuable than any other property. Without the ability to protect the expression and implementation of its ideas, a business has little chance of success.

Our Portsmouth intellectual property attorneys advise clients on trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets, licensing, and the use of restrictive covenants and other agreements to control the use of their intellectual property by third parties. We also pursue and defend against claims of copyright or trademark infringement.

Land Law

At Poole Brooke Plumlee, we have been helping clients in Virginia with land use issues since the late 1980s. Our land use attorneys assist developers, municipalities, government entities, and planning boards in getting projects approved on time, on budget, and in accordance with federal, state, and local laws and regulations.

We provide strong legal guidance in all aspects of land-use projects and can help you resolve issues involving:

• Property development and redevelopment
• Planning and zoning 
• Environmental reviews
• Eminent domain
• Regulatory compliance
• Administrative appeals

Litigation

Our skilled litigation lawyers have represented many national and international companies, businesses, government entities, and individuals in federal, state, and local court cases. We have a strong presence in Virginia and are well-known for resolving disputes in courts across the Commonwealth. Examples of cases we litigate include:

• Business disputes 
• Insurance defense 
• Tort defense
• Labor and employment
• Environmental and land use

Whether you are a business, public entity, or individual, our litigation attorneys are able to provide the exceptional representation you deserve. We take pride in being more than just a law firm – we partner with our clients, working together to find solutions that are creative and advantageous.

Personal Injury Lawyer

We believe that those who are injured as a result of someone else’s negligence are entitled to justice. For over 30 years, we have been helping victims of car accidents, slips and falls, and other accidents recover the compensation they need to get proper medical treatment and take care of their families financially.

We prepare every case as if we were going to trial and won’t settle for less than the full value of your claim. If you or a loved one has been a victim of a negligent, reckless, or violent act, reach out to our firm for competent representation.

Tax Lawyers

The taxation practice at Poole Brooke Plumlee provides sophisticated and comprehensive tax advice to individuals, corporations, and other entities across Virginia. Using our practical legal experience and thorough understanding of state and federal tax law, we can advise you on how to reduce your tax burden or represent you during controversies with the IRS or the Virginia Department of Taxation.

Trusts, Estates & Elder Law

Our lawyers assist individuals and families throughout Virginia with all aspects of estate planning, including but not limited to setting up wills, trusts, and special arrangements for vulnerable loved ones. Our firm also advises fiduciaries (e.g. executors and trustees) in estate and trust administration matters and represents fiduciaries and beneficiaries in contested estate administration disputes that may or may not result in litigation.

How Can Poole Brooke Plumlee Help Me?

Our Portsmouth law firm has several attorneys with years of legal experience in various practice areas, and all of them have one thing in common: they really take the time to get to know our clients and their situations.

When you hire us, you benefit from a legal team that works nonstop to achieve the desired outcome for your case. Whether you need Articles of Incorporation for your new business, assistance in pursuing your IP rights against an infringer, or an advocate after a personal injury, we can help. We also keep you informed during each stage of your case, from initial paperwork to final outcome, so you always know where you stand.

How Long Has Your Firm Been in Business?

Poole Brooke Plumlee PC has been providing Portsmouth residents with legal services for over 35 years. In 1987, we opened our first office in Virginia Beach, followed by another office in Chesapeake in 2009 and a third in Portsmouth in 2013. With three locations and attorneys licensed to practice in North Carolina, Ohio, and South Carolina, we are in an excellent position to serve practically all of your legal needs. 

We are also proud of our contributions to the legal profession and the community. We have attorneys who have been recognized by Best Lawyers in America, Legal Elite, Super Lawyers, Top Forty Under 40 and Best of Hampton Roads. Our community work includes membership on local boards, sponsoring charities, and pro bono legal services for community members.

Do You Offer Free Consultations?

We are happy to offer potential clients a free initial consultation. To schedule, call (757) 393-4049 or use our online contact form, and we will get back to you as soon as possible with a date and time.

To make the most of your consultation, please bring all relevant information to the meeting. For example, if you’ve been in a car accident and want to pursue compensation, you might want to include the police accident report, your medical records, accident scene photos, and insurance information. If you’re responding to a tax notice, bring a copy of that notice along with some representative tax records. If you’re not sure what documents you need, please ask when we confirm your consultation.

Questions? Contact Our Portsmouth Law Firm Today!

At Poole Brooke Plumlee, we are dedicated to providing the highest level of service to all of our clients. Many of our attorneys receive honors each year for excelling in their practice fields, and we are consistently ranked among the top fifty largest law firms in Virginia by various business publications. In addition, we are ranked AV (highest rating) by the Martindale Hubbell Law Directory. 

Find out how we can help you, your business, or your organization today. To schedule a consultation, please contact us, either via phone or our contact form.