Top best Litigation Lawyers Near me in ZIP 99503

Prior to joining Cashion Gilmore LLC, of counsel, Mera worked at the law firm of Ashburn & Mason where she focused on building a civil litigation practice and assisted in the firm's oil and gas litigation and regulatory practices.  Mera's work at Ashburn & Mason included successfully representing a local business through a contentious muti-week jury trial.. Mera previously worked at the Office of Public Advocacy, Criminal Division, in the area of public criminal defense.  Mera's jury trail results included acquittals for individuals charged with DUI, property offenses, assault, and controlled substance offenses.. Mera received a B.A. in English Literature from Smith College in 2000 where she was recognized for being among the top 5% of her class.  She received a J.D. from the University of Washington in 2004 before returning home to Alaska.

My practice includes contract disputes, construction law, municipal law, and litigation. I have represented clients before the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals, the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, and the Federal Maritime Commission. I was born and raised in Anchorage. Before law school I worked for the Alaska State Legislature.  I earned my law degree at Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.. I am very active in construction law and the construction community in Alaska.  In 2016 I gave a presentation on insurance to the Annual Alaska Construction Law Seminar.  I have represented owners, contractors, suppliers, bidders, and individuals.  I enjoy any opportunity to help others untangle the legal challenges created within the industry.

Managing Litigation Attorney

I have represented clients in courts throughout the state and have extensive experience in rural Alaska. I began his legal career in private practice in Bethel, Alaska, where I represented both plaintiffs and defendants in criminal, personal injury, wrongful death and other matters.. After relocating to Anchorage, I continued on as assistant Public Defender in the Anchorage office of the Public Defender Agency and assistant Public Advocate with the Office of Public Advocacy, where I managed varied types of criminal defense, including post-conviction matters and parole. I was also responsible for representing Agency clients in the felony drug/felony DUI wellness court and conducted multiple trainings for Agency attorneys.. My current practice at Birch Horton Bittner & Cherot primarily focuses on complex litigation, personal injury and municipal law.

I focus my practice on complex litigation. I have  experience working as a judicial clerk for both the Honorable Mark Rindner and the Honorable Larry R. Weeks. I worked in the Washington State Attorney General's Office where I researched environmental issues pertaining to CERCLA, CWA, Shoreline Management Act and Solid Waste Management Act.

I bring my diverse experience in the public and private sectors to my active trial practice. Elected to the Anchorage Assembly in 2007, I served the Municipality of Anchorage as its first acting Mayor from January to June 2009. I work with the Firm's Commercial Litigation Practice Group and regularly provide legal advise to individuals and small businesses. I also work as an arbitrator and a mediator.

I assist new businesses and businesses in emerging sectors evaluate and manage risk.  In particular, I help clients avoid unnecessary risk by identifying it early, guide clients through risk as they enter new areas of their business, and develop a toolbox of resources for clients to mitigate risk when it cannot be avoided.. I have experience working in a broad range of business and litigation matters, with particular emphasis on high tech and software companies.  I have also worked with oil and gas companies, Alaska Native Corporations, and insurers of all sizes and stripes.  I have formed Alaska entities, performed IP surveys for them, assisted with teh registration, enforcement, and defense of copyrights and trademarks, and assisted with patents and licenses.  I have also been involved in early-stage business financing, both on behalf of investors and entrepreneurs.. I have assisted clients with all phases of simple and complex commercial litigation, including document-intensive discovery, negotiated and mediated settlements, and trials and appeals. I have counseled both large and small commercial clients in issues dealing with copyright, trademark, corporate issues and employment matters.

I am a lifelong Alaskan and try to hike the Chugach Range as time allows.

I am a life long Alaskan who enjoys sharing with my family and friends the many opportunities that this great state has to offer. When I am not at my office desk contemplating the beauty of Denali, you can find me at a local pool cheering on my daugther‘s swim team or flying a drone in shadows cast by ancient glaciers throughout Prince William Sound. From fishing the Kenai to hunting the remote peaks of the Brooks Range, I love everything about Alaska, especially helping other Alaskans solve difficult legal problems.

Having grown up in Alaska, I returned in 2009 after almost 10 years away from the state. I graduated from Service High School and attended college at the Universities of Oregon and Southern Oregon where I played football and graduated Cum Laude. During the summer of 2000, I worked for Senator Frank Murkowski as an intern in Washington, D.C. After an elbow injury ended my football career, I worked as a ski instructor and helped coach high school sports before going to law school at Thomas Jefferson School of Law in San Diego, California.. I began working for the Anchorage District Attorney’s Office in 2009. From 2009 until 2013, I prosecuted cases ranging from misdemeanors to felony level drug crimes and financial and property crimes. I also spent time managing rural caseloads for Whittier and Saint Paul.. In 2013, I joined the Law Office of Brent R. Cole, P.C., and practiced aviation law, corporate and small business transactions, and civil litigation. I also handled a variety of criminal matters including fish and game violations, guiding offenses, commercial fishing tickets, and DUIs.. In 2017, I joined Guess & Rudd P.C. I am a fan of the University of Oregon Football team having played for the Ducks in the early 2000's. I enjoy spending time outdoors and with my family. My wife, Lindsay, and I have one daughter - Ella Brighton Bergt, born May 26, 2016.

After more than a decade in the United States Army I made the decision to leave the military and pursue a new career in the law.  I completed my undergraduate work at the University of Alaska Anchorage and traveled with my wife and two small children to Macon, Georgia.  I graduated cum laude from Merrcer University's Walter F. George School of Law in 1999.. Following my graduation from Mercer, I accepted a position with a top national firm in their Atlanta office, focusing on product liability and complex commercial litigation.  Over the course of five years at this firm I represented pharmaceutical manufacturers, contruction product manufacturers, and commercial enterprises involved in high stakes litigation. I represented these clients from the initial pleadings, through the discovery process, the hearing process, the mediation process, and the trial process.  During this period I learned how to properly evaluate cases and advise clients about the strengths of their case and the risks associated with their litigation.  I learned to handle matters efficiently and to pursue the client's goals by involving the client in each important decision, working with the other attorneys in the case when possible, and ardently and aggressively opposing those attorneys when my clients' needs demanded it.. For the full five years in Atlanta I also volunteered 200-300 hours per year with the Atlanta Family Court as a Guardian Ad Litem, representing the best interests of the child in divorces and other custody disputes.. In 2004 we returned to Alaska, where we had spent significant time over the past  20 years enjoying the outdoors and the smaller community.  I soon was accepted into ownership of one of the oldest firms in the state, focusing my practice on insurance defense work for Alaskans, commercial litigation, and the expansion of my family law practice.  In this practice I have spent much more time working with individuals, rather than large institutional clients and I have found my sensitivity to my clients' needs - expressed and unexpressed - has helped me provide effective and valued service to those individuals who placed their faith in me.

"Trust" and "my attorney" belong in the same sentence.  For 35 years, I have worked diligently to earn the trust of my clients, in-house counsel, national firms seeking Alaska counsel, judges, and opposing counsel.  Trust that I will treat your legal needs as of paramount importance and take your cause personally whether you are a Fortune 100 corporation, a powerhouse national law firm, a local Alaska business, or an individual facing legal issues and needing professional guidance to run the gauntlet.  Trust that I will deliver the best service I am capable of, in a cost-effective manner, spending your money as I would want others to spend mine - prudently.  Trust that I know what I am doing (if not, I will tell you who in town practices in an area where I do not).. I have had the privilege to defend complex, bet-the-farm catastrophic injury and wrongful death product liability matters for automobile manufacturers, medical device and pharmaceutical companies, recreational vehicle manufacturers, equipment manufacturers, and others.  I have over three decades of broad experience in complex eminent domain and condemnation actions on behalf of landowners.  I have an active practice involving those fields as well as environmental litigation, personal injury litigation (defense), real estate transactions and litigation, and a host of others.. Beyond technical proficiency, I appreciate the need to understand what matters most to my clients, to know that you cannot get the right answer until you figure out what the question is, to have peripheral vision and your radar looking everywhere for creative solutions, and to not be afraid to hear clients, opposing counsel, or judges remark "I've never seen anyone do it that way before" (I get those comments).. I understand the importance of putting myself out of business as quickly as possible, consistent with getting good results, but also being ready, willing and able to try cases to verdict when necessary.  I love what I do and I think it shows.