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Nick Surma, a shareholder in our Bismarck office, is a skilled litigator who focuses his practice on construction law and commercial litigation. Nick represents project owners, design professionals, general contractors, subcontractors, and material and equipment suppliers on all issues that arise before and during construction projects including bid contests, construction and design defect, change order disputes, delay claims, bond claims and liens, contract termination, and payment disputes. Nick has litigated disputes involving nearly every type of construction project including heavy highway, municipal, commercial, residential and everything in-between. Nick also reviews, drafts, and negotiates construction contracts and related documents for his clients.. In his commercial litigation practice, Nick litigates a wide array of disputes including breach of contract, commercial real estate and lease disputes, property damage, negligence, indemnity, subrogation, partnership matters, corporate matters, disputes between owners of closely held companies, and more. Nick has also litigated and advised clients on intricate political and constitutional questions involving elections, initiated measures, and internal political party organization and governance.. Regardless of the issue, Nick takes a collaborative approach with his clients to achieve the best possible outcome. Nick is not afraid to fight hard to advance his client’s interests, and his litigation approach and success has earned him a well-regarded reputation among lawyers and clients alike.. Before joining Vogel Law Firm, Nick served as a judicial law clerk to the Honorable Chief Justice Gerald W. VandeWalle of the North Dakota Supreme Court. A graduate of the University of North Dakota School of Law, Nick served as Managing Editor of the North Dakota Law Review and President of the Student Bar Association. His dedication and academic excellence earned him several scholarships and honors during law school.. Nick lives in the Bismarck area with his wife and their two young boys. Nick is an avid waterfowl and upland bird hunter and enjoys spending fall days afield with his yellow lab, Tucker. During the summer months, Nick can be found musky fishing, shanking it on the golf course, coaching his son’s baseball team, and watching his beloved Minnesota Twins.

Ms. Padgett is admitted to practice before all state and federal courts in the State of Nevada. She is also licensed to practice in the States of Oregon and Arkansas. Ms. Padgett has practiced insurance defense, including automobile liability, premises liability, products liability and construction defect litigation, in the Las Vegas area since October, 1998. In her practice, she has defended private individuals and clients from a wide range of industries, including large corporate entities and small businesses. She has defended interstate motor carriers and household goods shippers against personal injury claims and Carmack Amendment claims. Ms. Padgett has represented insurers in insurance coverage, uninsured motorist and bad faith litigation.  Ms. Padgett also has experience handling appeals in the Nevada Supreme Court and the Ninth Circuit.

Mr. Fox is an AV rated commercial trial attorney with a focus on business disputes, construction disputes, trade secret litigation, non-compete agreements and all manner of real estate issues.. Mr. Fox was admitted to the State Bar of Nevada in 2004.  After law school he served as a law clerk to the Honorable Judge David A. Wiseman in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.  Thereafter, he clerked with the Honorable Ron Parraguirre at the Eighth Judicial District Court and also at the Nevada Supreme Court.. After gaining the significant experience offered from clerking at both the trial court and appellate court levels, Mr. Fox joined MAC in early 2006.  He never looked back.  One of the benefits of being a MAC attorney is the supervised trust placed in young attorneys.  This offers the opportunity to make promising young attorneys into excellent attorneys by providing valuable hands-on experience at an early career stage.  Mr. Fox eagerly took this opportunity and gained extensive experience litigating contractor and mechanics lien disputes, trade secret cases, non-compete agreements and shareholder disputes.  This valuable experience gave Mr. Fox the ability to deal with complex disputes requiring extensive knowledge of how to apply the merits of a case to trial and arbitration settings.  Of equal value is Mr. Fox’s ability to take the lessons learned on larger matters and apply those to smaller client issues in an effort to aid clients in resolving disputes at early stages.  Part of an attorney’s job is to keep clients out of problems and Mr. Fox takes that to heart.. Mr. Fox has authored articles related to commercial real estate, non-compete agreements and offers of judgment.  While at the Nevada Supreme Court he learned the inner-workings of the State’s highest court and regularly applies the knowledge he has gained throughout the stages of any case.. As a self-proclaimed “Air Force Brat”, Mr. Fox got to experience the world at an early age.  He graduated high school from Leysin American School in Switzerland and attended a branch of the University of Maryland in Munich, Germany.  When not working hard for clients, he spends time with his wife and two kids.  He enjoys playing sports, watching movies and travel.

Martin M. Manke is an attorney at Michaelson Law. He has been practicing for about 25 years representing individuals and businesses in connection with contractual and general liability matters.  He also has experience with guardianship as well as trust and estate matters.  He was last a partner at one of the largest nationwide law firms.. Martin was admitted to the State Bar of Nevada in 1999. He earned his Juris Doctorate from California Western School of Law. While in law school, he had an opportunity to serve as an Intern for the Clark County District Attorney’s Office as well as mediate disputes involving minor children at a detention facility in San Diego County.. Prior to law school, Martin attended the University of Nevada, Las Vegas where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in 1996. During his time at same, he had the privilege of serving as a Student Ambassador for the University as well as working as an Intern for Frmr. Sen. Harry M. Reid in Washington, D.C.. Martin, a Nevada native, is the proud father of two children.