Smith Law Office

General Practice Attorneys, Attorneys, Bankruptcy Law Attorneys

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(215) 636-0160Call Visit WebsiteVisit Website Map & DirectionsDirections123 S Broad St Ste 810Philadelphia, PA 19109 Write a ReviewWrite Review

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Extra Phones

Phone: (215) 546-2288

Phone: (215) 732-2702

Phone: (215) 546-2281

Neighborhoods

Center City, Avenue of the Arts South

AKA

Gregory J Pagano Law Offices

Other Link

http://www.smithhorwitz.com

Categories

General Practice Attorneys, Attorneys, Bankruptcy Law Attorneys, Criminal Law Attorneys, Divorce Attorneys, Family Law Attorneys, Immigration Law Attorneys, Labor & Employment Law Attorneys, Legal Service Plans, Malpractice Law Attorneys, Personal Injury Law Attorneys, Professional Liability & Negligence Law Attorneys, Real Estate Attorneys, Tax Attorneys, Wills, Trusts & Estate Planning Attorneys

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Details

Phone: (215) 636-0160

Address: 123 S Broad St Ste 810, Philadelphia, PA 19109

Website: http://www.smithhorwitz.com

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Smith Law Office

Divorce
Child Support
In Pennsylvania the amount of child support awarded is determined by the Pennsylvania Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 1910.16. This rule provides the support guidelines for parents in Pennsylvania. The purpose of the support guidelines is to make sure that children of divorced parents would receive the same amount of parental incomes that they would if the parents were together.
Child Custody and Visitation
Depending on your family’s individual situation, reaching a custody agreement may or may not require appearing before a judge. If a court hearing is necessary, I will advocate for your custody or visitation rights. I can also assist in developing a custody arrangement whereas you and the other parent would avoid court.
Child Abuse
The ChildLine child abuse hotline is a program that operates through the Pennsylvania administrative court system. Childline expungement hearings take place before an administrative judge. Unlike in the criminal courts, you are not “innocent until proven guilty.” Instead, ChildLine tends to treat people as if they are automatically guilty. Getting listed on ChildLine can be as simple as having an accusation of physical abuse or even just touching a child. In many cases it is often a matter of “he said, she said.” If you are listed on the Childline abuse hotline you are in danger of being labeled as a child abuser, even if no criminal charges have been filed against you.

Criminal Defense
At the Law Offices of Gregory J. Pagano, we represent individuals whose property has been seized through civil forfeiture. We help our clients recover the property which rightfully belongs to them. We have had success getting the majority of our clients’ property returned even when they have pled guilty to a crime. Over the last few years, Pennsylvania has been more inclined to return property seized through civil forfeiture if the party is willing to come to court and fight for it. It is a common mistake for criminal defense attorneys not to try to get their client’s property back. At the Law Offices of Gregory J. Pagano, we can fight for you to get back the property that is rightfully yours.
DUI/DWI
In cases where alcohol or drug use leads to an accident or injury, not only can the direct perpetrator be held legally responsible, but other entities may be held liable. The typical example involves a DUI car accident in which the bar or restaurant is held liable for serving alcohol to the DUI driver prior to the accident. An injured passenger or driver of another car may have a valid claim against the bar or restaurant. The same theory applies to cases in which negligence in serving alcohol leads to an assault (i.e., college hazing injuries).
Wrongful Death
When a wrongful death lawsuit is a possibility for any of our potential clients, our entire legal staff understands the many emotional difficulties that are involved. Facing the loss and coming to a decision on whether and how to pursue legal action are separate, but similarly burdensome challenges.
Traffic Violations
Car accidents occur for many reasons: speeding, reckless driving, distracted driving (including cell phone or radio use) and, of course, drunk driving. Regardless of how these crashes occur, millions of accidents result in injuries and fatalities.
Sex Crimes
“In prepandemic times, sexual assault trials were already challenging for victims and witnesses due to the re-traumatizing impacts of court testimony,” Jane Roh, a spokesperson for the office, wrote in a statement. “Since the pandemic, these challenges have only intensified.”
Fraud
In August 2018 the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of PA announced the formation of a health care fraud task force.
Robbery
August 2018 – Juvenile – Gunpoint Robbery where juvenile client was charged as an adult. Mr. Pagano successfully had the case transferred to juvenile court
Burglary
October 2021: Charged with Criminal Trespassing and Criminal Mischief- found not guilty on both charges. Burglary charge deposed at lower court.
White Collar Crimes
Fraud, political corruption and what is often referred to as “white collar crime” are often times an alleged series of criminal acts which are part of a single case or investigation or indictment and can form the basis of a RICO (or Corrupt Organizations) indictment. However, more often each category of alleged criminal activity above, are mutually exclusive. Fraud cases are very diverse and can include wire fraud, mail fraud, tax fraud, bank fraud, medicare fraud, insurance fraud, mortgage fraud, securities fraud, etc.
Theft
Misdemeanors
A conviction of possession is often a misdemeanor, which typically does not trigger a mandatory prison sentence. The difference between being charged with misdemeanor possession and felony distribution is often a question of the quantity of drugs possessed, the quantity of money possessed and other factors; whether packaging materials, cut, scales or other things used to package and distribute narcotics.
Embezzlement
Political corruption cases can include any fraud offense (typically wire or mail fraud), bribery, theft of services, money laundering, extortion, false statements to FBI or other government agents, perjury, obstruction of justice, etc. Other offenses that are charged against officials and professionals are often called “white collar” crimes. These offenses can be fraud, money laundering, embezzlement, tax offenses, securities offenses, or any offense committed in or related to the the workplace, investments, income, licensing, etc. Investigations of this sort are typically done by the federal government and sometimes the state government (attorney general’s office).
Drug Crimes
I have handled thousands of drug cases during my career and factually each is different. I have represented all types of persons accused of illegally distributing drugs; doctors, pharmacists, medical office managers, college students, sophisticated international drug dealers and street corner drug dealers. The law that relates to drug crimes is very fact specific. Many times drug cases are won or lost based upon a constitutional principles – motions to suppress evidence. The law in this regard is also very fact sensitive. Preserving the facts through early investigation is imperative; video surveillance, police dash or body cameras, and police radio calls. It is imperative to hire an experienced attorney as soon as possible to collect and preserve all evidence that may reflect the true and correct facts as they unfold and present them later in court to a judge or jury. Such efforts may make the difference in winning or losing. In many federal cases there are wiretaps and electronic surveillance evidence which must be carefully analyzed and reviewed to determine whether it was properly obtained and whether it is properly used and quoted by law enforcement.
Assault
The District Attorney’s Office on Friday withdrew three assault charges against Carl Holmes, a former Philadelphia police chief inspector who was indicted by a grand jury in 2019, and charged with sexually assaulting three female police officers.
Murder
False Confessions, Coerced confessions, involuntary confessions or false confessions are most often the result of psychological intimidation by police. Our office has significant experience with false confession cases. We represented an individual, Nafis Pinkney, in a double murder case. He confessed to participating in the murder of his best friend and his best friend’s girlfriend. The only significant piece of evidence was his confession. It was a capital case. He spent four years in jail awaiting trial. At trial he was acquitted of all charges. We filed a lawsuit against the City of Philadelphia for malicious prosecution. While the lawsuit was pending another person confessed to the killings and to another single murder that occured a week before. The ballistics matched and he was familiar with details of the double murder. The City settled the civil case shortly thereafter.
Juvenile Crimes
Parents have the right to legal counsel at a shelter hearing and an adjudication hearing. Sarah A. Jones, Esq. advocates for parents who risk losing custody of their children in dependency matters. I have extensive experience working with CYF, juvenile law and dependency cases.
Homicide
Mr. Pagano has gotten statements suppressed in several homicide cases; Commonwealth v. Robert Harris, Commonwealth v. Treidy Colon and Commonwealth v. Tanya Williams. In another case, Commonwealth v. Nafis Pinkney, detectives coerced a statement from the Defendant which was not suppressed. The statement was introduced into evidence and read to the jury. However, Mr. Pinkney was found not guilty and he was acquitted of all charges and released after being in prison awaiting trial for four years.
Restraining Order
In some cases perpetrators of crimes are not charged. In some cases perpetrators of crimes are not even identifiable and the victim may not have reported the crime to law enforcement. In some cases victims are afraid to come forward because they are embarrassed or concerned about damage to reputation or damage to marriage or other relationships or personal assets. Such cases may include persons who are victimized from involvement in dating services such as “seeking arrangements”, “sugar daddy” or “sugar mommy”. In 2013, a Florida woman was arrested by the FBI for allegedly blackmailing an older man, who she had met on the website, sugardaddyforme.com. Using civil remedies such as injunctions, emergency restraining orders and lawsuits are often times the most powerful tools in these types of situations. Most importantly, retain a lawyer, who is experienced in dealing with these situations, immediately. In such cases we will provide aggressive and discrete representation to victims. We can assist you and protect you from being threatened, harassed, extorted and blackmailed. We can protect your privacy, your relationships and your assets.
Forgery
Money Laundering
June 2017 – Iraqi Businessman and Green Card holder – Federal indictment – Money Laundering charges – Charges refiled by U.S. Attorney’s Office to prevent defendant from being deported.
Manslaughter
Assault cases come in many forms; from simple assaults were there is merely bodily injury to aggravated assaults were there is serious bodily injury or injury to police or injury with a deadly weapon to attempted murder all the way up to the most serious crime – premeditated and deliberate murder or first degree murder – or involuntary manslaughter, voluntary manslaughter, third degree murder or second degree murder – and homicide by vehicle. Prosecutors are known to charge murder generally in the initial stages of litigation. As the case progresses, discovery becomes available and as the defense conducts its investigation, facts and circumstances come to the surface that help to mitigate the charge or perhaps provide a complete defense to the charges.
Extortion

Business and Corporate Law

Construction Contracts

Sexual Harassment
(The Inquirer doesn’t typically identify people alleged to have been sexually assaulted, but both former officers spoke publicly in the past to help bring attention to how the Police Department has mishandled allegations of workplace sexual harassment and assault.)

Real Estate Litigation
At the Pagano Law Firm, George has obtained multimillion-dollar medical malpractice awards and handles all personal injury matters as well as all estate and probate cases. Also, he is transactional council and utilizes his Pa Broker’s license in handling complex real estate matters.
Premises Liability
PREMISES LIABILITY: When a property owner is negligent in maintaining his or her premises – a home or apartment building, a parking lot or garage, a shopping center or mall, a supermarket or pharmacy, etc. – and someone gets hurt, the injuries can be severe. You may not be able to return to work. Your quality of life may be considerably reduced because you are unable to participate in the activities you love. And you may be in terrible pain and forced to endure ongoing medical treatments for your injuries.
Construction Litigation
Land Use and Zoning
Zoning and Land Use – Our attorneys provide swift, effective and comprehensive legal advice as a project evolves from pre-acquisition to disposition.

Immigration Law

Citizenship and Naturalization
Family Immigration
Family-Based Immigration: Family-based immigration is one of the most common reasons clients solicit our legal expertise. We have experience with the family-based immigration process and we can help you file for adjustment of status, file to have the conditions of permanent residence removed, and represent individuals who are victims of domestic violence self-petition for immigration benefits in the United States.
Employment Immigration
Employment-Based Immigration and Non-Immigrant Visas: We understand that much of the cutting edge research and development in the United States is performed by foreign nationals, that the agricultural industry in the United States is supported by dedicated workers from abroad, and that many of the most caring workers in our healthcare system were not born in the United States.
Green Cards
Student Visas
Academic Immigration: Academic immigration issues are multi-faceted. Perhaps you’re in the United States on an F-1 student visa and looking for a tenure-track job. Maybe you have been in J-1 status and need help filing an 212(e) waiver to overcome the two-year home-stay requirement in order to take a job or post-doc in the United States immediately, or perhaps you unfortunately find yourself in a position where you have inadvertently fallen out of F-1 nonimmigrant status and need to file for reinstatement of your student status. Our attorneys have experience with these types of issues, and are willing to provide the type of precise advice you need at rates that are within students’ reach.

Personal Injury
Civil, tort or personal injury law may, in many instances, provide victims of crime a civil battleground, in the form of a lawsuit, where they can find justice for the wrongs done to them. There is no law that prohibits a crime victim from pursuing a civil case just because the State is prosecuting a criminal matter. This applies even if the offender was not convicted in criminal court. We can hold offenders and liable third parties responsible for your injuries and personal and financial losses. Third party responsibility may be against individuals, employers or corporations, schools, churches and other organizations or municipal entities such as the Department of Human Services or Child Protective Services.
Medical Malpractice
Doctor Negligence: Physicians take an oath to “do no harm.” If mistakes are made during diagnosis, treatment or follow-up care that causes injury to a patient, it may be considered medical malpractice.
Auto Accidents
Dog Bites
DOG BITES: The owners of dogs are responsible for the safety of other people who come in contact with their pets. There is no such thing as “one free bite” for dogs in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Dog owners and others who handle dogs are responsible at all times for protecting others from being attacked by their animals. We have represented persons injured by dogs and we understand that many dog bites are not minor injuries. We know that they can lead to serious, disfiguring injury, permanent scars, multiple infections and emotional trauma.

Trusts and Estates

Estate Planning
Estate and Probate Administration: A well drafted will is the centerpiece of every effective estate plan. Estate administration is a complex, detailed and often confusing process. Estate administration has its own legal and tax requirements along with various filing, notice and election deadlines for probate and orphans court.
Wills
Power of Attorney
Drafting of Living Will and Durable Power of Attorney documents that will not be deemed unenforceable after the fact.
Probate
Minimize the risk of a lawsuit brought by beneficiaries for the mismanagement of an estate, the theft of assets or other grounds for removal of an executor or trustee under Pennsylvania probate law.

Foreclosure
Tax Law
At The Law Offices of Greg Pagano, our team is always ready to assist clients in maximizing real estate opportunities, whether portfolio transactions or deals involving a single property. Our staff is well versed in key areas, such as, acquisitions, sales, leasing, financing, zoning, land use, construction, tax appeals and condemnation proceedings.

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