PRACTICE AREAS

ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION

Alternative Dispute Resolution (“ADR”) refers to any means of settling disputes outside of the courtroom. ADR typically includes early neutral evaluation, negotiation, conciliation, arbitration, and mediation. Courts are increasingly requiring some parties to utilize ADR of some type, most often mediation, before permitting the parties' cases to be heard.

More and more employers are requiring employees to arbitrate or mediate their claims in the event of an employment dispute. When an employee has been the victim of discrimination, sexual harassment, retaliation, wrongful termination, or breach of contract, he or she may be forced into arbitration or mediation prior to any other legal recourse.

Edward L. Gilbert Co., LPA is experienced in ADR processes and can provide advice, assistance, and representation in these types of matters.

APPELLATE PRACTICE

Our firm has successfully represented clients in numerous appellate cases with regular appearances before the Ohio Appellate Courts, Ohio Supreme Court, as well as the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. We have argued a diverse body of lawsuits involving complex employment disputes, defamation, retaliation, police misconduct, and civil rights. Edward L. Gilbert Co., LPA is often called upon to handle not only appeals for our own clientele but appeals of cases sent to us by other law firms.

BUSINESS LAW

Edward L. Gilbert Co., LPA helps clients form their businesses, and assists them in maintaining the legal requirements of their businesses after they are up and running. Our firm provides legal services for sole proprietorships, partnerships, LLCs, non-profit organizations, and corporations. Our firm can assist your company with the following:

Business formation
Contract negotiation
Drafting employee handbooks
Drafting employment agreements, independent contractor agreements, and separation agreements
Drafting non-compete and non-disclosure agreements
Drafting policies and procedures manuals
Drafting shareholder agreements, partnership agreements, and LLC operating agreements
Unemployment Compensation appeals and hearings

CIVIL LITIGATION

Edward L. Gilbert Co., LPA provides legal representation for plaintiffs and defendants throughout Ohio in various types of civil litigation matters. Our firm represents clients in state and federal courts throughout the State of Ohio, as well as at administrative hearings and proceedings in front of state, county, and municipal boards, departments, divisions, and commissions.

Attorney Edward L. Gilbert has more than 30 years’ experience as a litigation attorney and maintains a high success rate in both prosecuting and defending civil litigation cases. Whether you are the plaintiff or the defendant, it is important to have the right attorney protecting your rights in civil litigation. Attorney Gilbert has earned a solid reputation as a civil litigation attorney for his commitment to protecting his clients’ interests in a zealous and efficient manner.

CIVIL RIGHTS

Edward L. Gilbert Co., LPA represents clients who have had their constitutional and civil rights violated by government agencies, police, employers, and schools. Attorney Gilbert has been litigating cases in state and federal courts for more than 30 years. He has a strong record of successfully representing individuals who have suffered because of civil rights violations, such as abuse of power by a police official, due process claims, equal protection claims, excessive use of force, and First Amendment/free speech rights.

CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS

Edward L. Gilbert Co., LPA provides services to clients on a wide array of constitutional and civil rights issues arising under the federal and state constitutions. Our firm has substantial experience interpreting, analyzing, and litigating constitutional issues and in challenging the constitutionality of local, state, and federal laws. We represent clients in matters that involve freedom of speech, press, religion and assembly, substantive due process, procedural due process, sovereign immunity, and qualified immunity.

CONSUMER LAW

Your rights as a consumer protect you from being mistreated or taken advantage of by creditors and debt collection agencies. Consumer protection covers a wide range of topics, such as overcharging and excessive billing, price-gouging, product liability, privacy rights, unfair business practices, fraud, misrepresentation, home repairs, unfair debt collections, repossessions, and other consumer/business interactions.

DISCRIMINATION

Ohio is an employment at-will state, meaning that employers have the freedom to terminate an employee for any or no reason. However, it is illegal to fire, refuse to hire, harass, or discriminate against an employee or potential employee based on certain protected classes, such as race, sex, age, or disability. Discrimination can also occur unintentionally when an employer’s job practices, such as a test or reduction in force, disproportionately and negatively affect individuals on the basis of a protected characteristic that is not job related.

Edward L. Gilbert Co., LPA is prepared to take on corporations, unions and federal, state or municipal employers for discriminatory practices. Our knowledge of state and federal employment laws, together with our aggressive approach to the investigation and litigation of employee rights claims, has enabled us to settle many claims for discrimination and retaliation.

EMPLOYMENT LAW

Edward L. Gilbert Co., LPA represents clients in employment-related disputes involving:

Wage and Hour Violations

Minimum Wage Violations

Overtime Violations

Exempt/Non-Exempt Misclassifications

Employment Contracts

Discrimination

Wrongful Termination

Retaliation

Unemployment Compensation

ESTATE PLANNING

No one wants to think about death or disability; however, establishing an estate plan is one of the most important steps you can take to protect yourself and your loved ones. Proper estate planning not only puts you in charge of your finances, it can also spare your loved ones of the expense, delay, and frustration associated with managing your affairs when you pass away or if you become disabled.

Edward L. Gilbert Co., LPA assists clients with Wills, Durable Powers of Attorney, Healthcare Powers of Attorney, Living Wills, Real Property Transfers, Estate Planning, and Probate.

FLSA VIOLATIONS

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) protects most public and private employees. The FLSA establishes minimum wage, overtime pay, recordkeeping, and child labor standards affecting full-time and part-time workers in the private sector and in Federal, State, and local governments.

The FLSA requires employers to pay covered non-exempt employees at least the federal minimum wage and overtime pay for all hours worked over 40 in a work week.

Covered employees must be paid for all hours worked in a workweek. In general, compensable hours worked include all time an employee is on duty or at a prescribed place of work and any time that an employee is suffered or permitted to work.

However, the FLSA provides an exemption from both minimum wage and overtime pay for employees employed as bona fide executive, administrative, professional outside sales employees, and certain computer employees.

Employers who violate the FLSA can be held accountable for back pay and additional compensation to covered employees. At Edward L. Gilbert Co., LPA, you are represented by experienced wage and hour attorneys who can enforce your rights and recover wages that are owed to you.

FMLA VIOLATIONS

The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) entitles eligible employees of covered employers to take unpaid, job-protected leave for specified family and medical reasons with continuation of group health insurance coverage under the same terms and conditions as if the employee had not taken leave.

Employers may be liable if they interfere with an employee's FMLA rights or if they retaliate against an employee for exercising such rights. To determine your rights and obtain compensation for violation of your FMLA rights, contact Edward L. Gilbert Co., LPA.

GENERAL PRACTICE

When you are in need of legal services, you need to find the right attorney. Whatever legal problems arise in your life, you will be in good hands with Edward L. Gilbert Co., LPA. While a significant part of our practice focuses on civil rights and employment law, we also provide effective and caring representation in many areas of the law.

HUMAN RESOURCES

Edward L. Gilbert Co., LPA assists those businesses with human resource matters; such as, hiring, firing, training, personnel forms, employee handbooks, and much more.

At Edward L. Gilbert Co., LPA, we have decades of experience in assisting companies with human resource needs. Our firm makes sure your company is in compliance with laws and regulations involved with employment-related matters.

PROBATE LAW

Contact Edward L. Gilbert Co., LPA to assist you with the probate or trust administration of an estate. In Ohio, the determination of whether an estate needs to be probated will be determined by certain factors such as how assets are titled and the value of such assets.

It is possible for your heirs to avoid probate if the estate plan is properly structured. Our firm will give you the necessary information to make the best choices for your situation.

SEXUAL HARASSMENT

It is possible for your heirs to avoid probate if the estate plan is properly structured. Our firm will give you the necessary information to make the best choices for your situation.

TORTS

A tort is a civil wrong which unfairly causes someone else to suffer loss or harm resulting in legal liability for the person who commits the tortious act, called a tortfeasor. The victim of the harm can recover their loss as damages in a lawsuit.

Legal injuries are not limited to physical injuries and may include emotional, economic, or reputational injuries as well as violations of privacy, property, or constitutional rights. Torts comprise matters such as car accidents, false imprisonment, defamation, and product liability. Although many torts are the result of negligence, tort law also recognizes intentional torts, where a person has intentionally acted in a way that harms another.

WRONGFUL TERMINATION

All employees have basic rights under federal and state employment laws. This includes protection from wrongful termination. When an employee is terminated from his or her job for reasons that are deemed illegal under federal or state employment laws, it is considered wrongful termination. If you believe you have been wrongfully terminated from your job, Edward L. Gilbert Co., LPA can help.