Representative Cases

State v. Lopez

As a result of a stabbing that occurred late one night our two clients were charged with multiple offenses including the very serious charges of first degree assault. Though they were found at the scene of the stabbing and were bloodied, they asserted their innocence throughout. We were able to convince the State’s Attorney’s Office to drop the charges against one of our client completely, before trial. After an extended jury trial our other client was found not guilty of all charges.

State v.

Our client was caught by the police in possession of a large amount of illegal drugs. We were able to get the possession with intent to distribute charges dropped by the State. Afterwards the State tried to forfeit all the money that they had seized from our client and his pick-up truck. After a trial before the court we prevailed, the forfeiture request was dismissed, and our client got his money and truck back.

State v.

Our client, who was an adult, was charged with having sexual contact with a fourteen year old girl, which included the charge of sexual intercourse. As a result of the fourteen year olds claims he was charged with a number of very serious sexual offenses. After a two day jury trial we were able to convince the jury to find him not guilty of all charges.

Smith v. Jones

Cumberland, Erly & West, LLC represented a man who was struck head-on by a drunk driver on Route 4. As a result of the accident, our client sustained substantial injuries, loss of income, and loss of future income-making ability. The other side claimed that a number of our client’s injuries and his current medical condition were caused by other factors, including a pre-existing medical condition, and not the accident. Following extensive negotiations, our firm obtained an extremely high settlement for the client and his family.

State Highway Administration v. Dow

The State Highway Administration (SHA) filed a condemnation case against our client, a property owner in Prince Frederick, Maryland, taking half of his property. After its initial payment to our client, SHA only wanted to pay him an additional $40,000. Our firm, after extensive factual and legal research, prepared a very substantial claim against SHA, and demonstrated that the value of the land was much higher than the compensation offered to our client. We arranged for mediation and obtained an additional $1,340,150 cash settlement.

State Highway Administration v. Garner

The State Highway Administration (SHA) condemned property owned by our client in Solomons, Maryland. SHA offered to pay our client $202,000, their opinion as to the fair market value of the land. Our firm tried the case before a jury and received a verdict of $722,000, every penny the client requested.

Johnson v. James

Our client was driving along a road in his neighborhood when another driver ran a stop sign and broadsided our client. The person causing the accident was a resident of Great Britain, visiting the United States and driving a rental car. Even though the at-fault driver had little or no assets, we were able to locate insurance to cover our client’s injuries and settled the case for $900,000.

Shea v. Taylor

Our client was struck by a drunk driver, causing her injuries including a broken leg. The man who caused the accident had no insurance, and the car he was driving was not insured. We were able to prove, however, that the at-fault driver was acting within the scope of his employment, thus accessing his employer’s insurance policy. We settled the case for $500,000.

State v. Doe

Our client was criminally charged with rape and other very serious offenses stemming from an incident that occurred in North Beach, Maryland. From the outset, our client asserted his innocence. After a two day jury trial, Cumberland, Erly & West, LLC was able to have our client acquitted on all charges.

Donaldson v. Ryan

Our firm represented a mother involved in a bitter custody dispute. After retrieving her two young children from a visitation with their father, our client’s car was stopped by police, and the children’s backpacks were searched. As it turned out, the father had placed a loaded hand gun and cocaine in the children’s backpacks, and then telephoned the police to “tip them off” that our client was in possession of a loaded hand gun and cocaine. The father took these steps to improve his position in the custody case. We filed suit against the father on behalf of the mother for intentional infliction of emotional distress. After a two day jury trial, we obtained a judgment in favor of our client for $125,000.

Ridge Valley v. Lopez

The owner of a large house in Calvert County hired our client, a construction company, to build an addition, for which the parties signed a contract. Throughout construction, the homeowner requested numerous changes, and the work ultimately went far beyond what was originally contracted for. The homeowner promised to “square up” with our client at the end of the project. However, when construction was complete, the owner refused to pay as promised. After a seven day trial, we won a judgment in favor of our client for $236,000.

Doe v. Row

Cumberland, Erly & West, LLC represented a school bus driver who for years was subjected to sexual advances and crude jokes of a sexual nature by her boss. The boss even on occasion touched our client inappropriately, but always when no one was around. Despite his threats to our client and despite the lack of any corroborating witnesses to the boss’ actions, we initiated suit against him and obtained a very sizeable settlement for our client.

Appellate Cases

Daugherty v. Daugherty, 390 Md. 88, 887 A.2d 654 (2005).
Kobrine, L.L.C. v. Metzger, 380 Md. 620, 846 A.2d 403 (2004).
Kobrine, L.L.C. v. Metzger, 151 Md. App. 260, 824 A.2d 1031 (2003).
Brown v. Parran, 120 Md. App. 653, 708 A.2d 12 (1998).
In re William George T., 89 Md. App. 762, 599 A.2d 886 (1992). Sterling Mirror of Maryland v. Rahbar, et ux., 90 Md. App. 193, 600 A.2d 899 (1992).

Each case is different and the past record is no assurance that our lawyers will be successful in reaching a favorable result in any future case.

All of our attorneys are licensed to practice law in the State of Maryland.

Laurence W.B. Cumberland is responsible for the content of this website.