Trial/LitigationKW's Litigation and Alternative Dispute Resolution Practice Department has been an integral part of the services that we provide our clients. It evolved out of the demands for dispute resolution presented by the firm's early clients, and has grown to support each of the firm's other substantive practice areas. The firm's approach to dispute resolution is bottom-line driven. Our goal is always the cost-effective minimization of risk and expense. This may mean emphasizing factual investigation and settlement exploration before filing suit. Or it may mean seeking alternative forms of dispute resolution, such as mediation or arbitration. Occasionally, it requires prompt and preemptive resort to the courts. Importantly, it always involves close consultation between attorney and client to ensure that tactical and strategic objectives are met within projected budgets for time and expense. KW's Litigation and Alternative Dispute Resolution Practice Department handles matters in all of the following primary areas, and many others as well.
KW is exceptionally strong in the area of environmental litigation. This experience includes the pre-trial, trial and appellate litigation of numerous and diverse environmental disputes, and features the prosecution and defense of cost recovery actions under Superfund and Chapter 21E. It also includes a broad spectrum of cases arising out of the issuance or denial of myriad local, state and federal permits involving environmental impacts. These cases include administrative hearings and appeals, defense of government enforcement efforts, and affirmative challenges to such permits by abutters and citizens groups. The firm's broad experience in these litigation matters stems from its extensive work representing numerous companies in the energy business and many proponents of complex and large development projects, all of which has led to a strong local and regional reputation in this field.
KW's lawyers have substantial and varied experience in the mediation, negotiation and trial of personal injury matters. The firm's experience in these matters arises from its long-term representation of commercial clients having many employees and from advocating on behalf of plaintiffs injured in various workplace and motor vehicle accidents. These cases often involve complex insurance coverage issues, through which our attorneys successfully navigate on a regular basis, as described below. Our attorneys typically are engaged on an hourly basis for such matters, but occasionally utilize alternative fee arrangements, including contingency fees.
As the marketplace places greater relative risk on all commercial entities, insurance law has become an increasingly important area of expertise at KW. The firm's strength in this field of practice grew out of our experience in personal injury and environmental matters. Our insurance law practice has included the representation of both policyholders and insurance companies in various types of claims. We are fully versed in the varied strategies of both asserting and defending claims. The value we bring our clients in these cases is based on a seasoned and broad-based understanding of how the claims system operates and how judges and juries react to the issues presented by insured claims. As necessary, our attorneys litigate or settle insurance disputes as well as the underlying cases out of which such disputes arise.
The increasing expense, time and energy consumed by judicial litigation of disputes has encouraged the use of alternative dispute resolution methods, such as mediation, early neutral evaluation, arbitration, mini-trials and summary jury trials. Depending on the objectives and priorities of the participants, each one of these methods may provide an acceptable alternative to litigation. Many of KW's attorneys have utilized these methods and have often found them useful in achieving cost-effective and timely outcomes. |
Boston, MA 02110-3113 
