We counsel with and represent military members and their dependents with respect to legal issues peculiar to military criminal justice, personnel regulations and policies and dependent healthcare and safety issues.

Our firm handles matters that relate to two primary areas of law that affect military members and their dependents:

• We represent military members under investigation and/or facing charges for violations of military administrative regulations and/or criminal violations of the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ).
  
  
• We also represent military dependents for claims under the Federal Tort Claims Act relating to personal injury, death and property loss caused by the negligence or intentional acts of military members or civil servant employees of the federal agency involved, including military hospital medical malpractice claims.

Depending on the particular facts and circumstances of each case, we are able and do undertake cases in which the client may not be currently residing in or assigned to a military installation in Alaska.

With respect to court-martial defense services we can furnish civilian counsel representation at all stages from investigation through trial and the appellate process at any installation or trial venue within the global military system. We are more often than not asked to work in tandem with assigned military defense counsel in a co-counsel affiliation and welcome that arrangement as it offers the best quality of defense resources in most cases.

In medical negligence and other FTCA cases, we are often retained where the claim arose at an Alaska installation but the dependent-client and the military member sponsor are no longer assigned to that base or post and have relocated out of the state or have separated from the service. Regardless of where the client currently resides if the claim arose in Alaska our firm can file the action in the Alaska Federal District Court without affiliation with other counsel. If we are retained to handle a FTCA claim which arose in a place outside of Alaska and if the claim proceeds past the administrative claim adjudication stage we would be required to affiliate as co-counsel a firm that maintains an office in the jurisdiction where the claim arose in order to file the federal lawsuit in that court and prosecute it through trial. We are able and willing to consider taking such cases. If we are retained in such a case and co-counsel must later be affiliated for trial, it is done at no added expense in fee to the client.

All initial case evaluations are offered free of any charge for fee and are completed with no obligation required from the client to retain our firm past the evaluation stage. If, after the initial evaluation, we offer to undertake the matter and the prospective client agrees to the terms offered, a formal written retainer-fee agreement will be agreed upon and signed by all parties.

Due to the fact that critical time limits apply to all cases it is of utmost importance to contact counsel at the earliest point in time that the client becomes aware of pending charges or investigations or of the possibility that they have been injured due to governmental agency employee negligence. Also, with respect to UCMJ violations, the potential defenses may be undermined or totally lost if a client makes self-incriminating statements to commanders, supervisors, police or other investigators prior to speaking with civilian counsel. A client cannot always be aware, without prior legal consultation with competent and experienced defense counsel, what type of statements or other conduct might provide the government with incriminating information that can and likely will be used in subsequent proceeding as evidence against them. That is why it is of critical importance to always, without exception, to fully exercise your rights under Article 31 of the UCMJ to refuse to make any statement to anyone, formally or informally, regarding the matter under investigation, without speaking first with and having your defense counsel present with you at the time of questioning.