Family Law

• Guardianship
  Our attorneys represent clients in connection with conservatorship and guardianship proceedings. While not a primary focus of our fiduciary practice, as a part of serving as counsel to generations of the same family, our lawyers have assisted in helping families and individuals through contested and non-contested guardianship proceedings.

Business and Corporate Law

• Corporate Law
  Lawyers from our firm frequently serve as local counsel to national corporations with a presence in southeast Georgia providing local involvement and expertise. Our involvement as local counsel provides assistance with litigation, but also with government relations and general corporate governance.
• Business Formation
  In the life of a corporation, legal oversight and protection is essential to growing and prospering securely. Our litigation and corporate attorneys work hand-in-hand to assure solid legal protection in a wide range of corporate law matters, including: Drafting of Contracts, Contract Review, Asset Purchase Agreements, Business Formation and Organization, Personnel Policies, Licensing Agreements, Commercial Leases and Interfacing with Regulatory Agencies. Gilbert Harrell litigation attorneys are also prepared to act as in-house counsel for corporations who lack their own staff attorneys. Our attorneys are well-qualified to assist with: Drafting of Employment Agreements, Drafting of Employee Non-Compete Contracts, Drafting and Revision of Operating Manuals, Hiring and Firing Protocol.
• Business Disputes
  Gilbert, Harrell, Sumerford & Martin, P.C. has a long tradition of providing trusted legal advice to businesses of all sizes throughout Southeast Georgia. Having incorporated and counseled some of the region’s oldest and largest corporations, our firm has significant experience in the business law community.
• Limited Liability Companies
  The firm handles all aspects of real estate development, including: purchase and sale agreements; joint ventures; covenants, conditions, and restrictions agreements; zoning and permitting issues; land use easements and ancillary rights; and leasing and lease enforcement. Our attorneys also have extensive experience representing developers and investors in the planning and formation of corporations, general and limited partnerships, and limited liability companies for real estate projects of all kinds.
• Intellectual Property

Employment Law

• Employment Contract
  The attorneys in our Corporate Practice Group assist business owners, managers, directors, and corporate officers with legal issues that arise in the course of doing business. We counsel clients on everything from entity formation to governance and employment law matters. Our attorneys assist with the drafting of Shareholder Agreements and Board of Director minutes and resolutions, preparing employment agreements, reviewing contracts, crafting stock options, and handling acquisitions.
• Employment Litigation
  GHSM’s attorneys possess decades of experience helping their education clients navigate complex issues, including successful litigation of prominent and precedential cases in front of the Georgia Supreme Court and Court of Appeals.  Our education practice focuses on advising k-12 independent schools, charter schools and schools systems, as well as education service providers, on a variety of corporate and operational issues including board governance, facilities acquisition, financing and leasing, charter applications and renewals, FTE allotment and appropriations issues, employment disputes, IDEA and 504 compliance, and vendor negotiations.

Property Law

• Real Estate Litigation
• Construction Litigation
  To help our clients achieve cost-effective representation, Gilbert Harrell is proud to provide its clients with practical insight, advice and assistance on industry topics, including: Contract Drafting, Risk Assessment, Negotiation, Contract Review, Compliance, Termination and Disputes. We are also called upon to assist with Environmental Risks, Materialman’s & Mechanics’ Liens, Faulty Products & Failures, Construction Defects, Insurance Coverage Disputes, Warranties and Negligence Claims.
• Real Estate Transactions
  The attorneys in the Real Estate Practice Group are experienced practitioners who have represented clients in some of the most significant real estate transactions in coastal and south Georgia.
• Eminent Domain
  We offer a full range of advisory and transactional services in the following areas: ad valorem tax appeals, acquisitions, commercial real estate, conservation, contracts, construction law, development, eminent domain, land use, leasing, litigation, property owners associations, secured transactions, 1031 exchanges, timber, title, residential real estate, resorts, and zoning. Our representative clients include purchasers, sellers, borrowers, real estate development entities, resort owners, timber companies, publicly traded companies, banks, and other institutional lenders.
• Easement
• Land Use and Zoning
• Property Damage
  The Firm has a broad range of experience handling environmental litigation of all types, including toxic tort and class action litigation, third-party property damage and restoration cases, natural resource damages claims, citizen suits, administrative permit appeals, and federal and state enforcement matters. Our cases have involved large and complex sites with claims brought under CERCLA, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, the Clean Water Act, various state statutes, and under common law theories. We also regularly tackle difficult claims involving complex scientific and engineering issues at landfills, contaminated sediment sites, and an array of current and former industrial sites with historic contamination going back many decades.

Health Law

• Personal Injury
  Gilbert Harrell trial attorneys have extensive litigation experience and the skill required to successfully litigate your case. Our team has the knowledge and commitment to zealously advocate on your behalf in all types of general litigation in local state and federal courts, including: Business Litigation; Construction Litigation; Intellectual Property Litigation; Lease and Real Estate Disputes; Products Liability; Personal Injury & Torts; Appellate Practice; Environmental Litigation; Land Use & Zoning.

Trusts and Estates

• Estate Planning
  Founded in 1871, Gilbert Harrell is one of Georgia’s oldest law firms, with an established reputation for providing sophisticated legal representation to individuals, small businesses, and major corporations alike. Our experienced professionals have been recognized throughout the legal community for their work, and been invited to join such prestigious organizations as the American College of Trial Lawyers, the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel, and the American College of Mortgage Attorneys.
• Wills
  A “fiduciary” is a legal or ethical relationship of trust between two or more parties. Gilbert Harrell is one of the most well-respected law firms in the area of Estate & Trust Litigation and Probate Administration. Our clients bestow confidence, reliance and trust in our rendering of legal services. The Gilbert Harrell probate and estate law practice involves: Simple Wills, Trust Formation and Management, Guardians and Conservator Representation, Estate Tax Litigation, Complex Estate Planning, Probate and Estate Administration and Breach of Fiduciary Duty.
• Trusts
  At Gilbert Harrell Sumerford & Martin, our lawyers and staff-members take great pride in the decades-long relationships the firm shares with generations of families and corporate entities throughout Southeast Georgia. Our longstanding clients include individuals, major corporations, small businesses, professional entities, insurance companies, financial and lending institutions, non-profit corporations, trusts and estates, and public sector boards and authorities.
• Power of Attorney
  Our estate planning attorneys focus on preparing wills, trusts, Advance Directives for Health Care, General Durable Powers of Attorney and other instruments to insure a client’s desires are met while addressing estate and gift tax, generation skipping transfer tax and income tax issues. Our carefully crafted estate plans are also designed to address the issue of potential future incapacity of an individual, and provide a plan for the aged or aging.
• Probate

Finance Law

• Tax Law
  Charter schools, which occupy a unique and increasingly complicated area of law, are an area of particular focus for GHSM’s education practice.  Funded predominantly by local, state, and federal government sources, charter schools are given enhanced autonomy relative to traditional public schools as an incentive to develop and implement innovative solutions to the educational challenges facing today’s students.  At GHSM, we understand the diversity and complexity of legal issues confronting charter schools.  In addition to being a school, a charter is also a non-profit and a small business, and as such, faces a variety of legal and political concerns – for example, advocacy and organization during the petition process; facility and financing concerns during the start-up period; creating, implementing and updating appropriate educational and employment policies and procedures, including student discipline and teacher evaluation and promotion; technology and insurance procurement; retention of professional services; curriculum development and implementation; compliance with non-profit tax law; corporate governance; management of money and investments; facility and real estate development; and ongoing relationships with the charter authorizer.