Come see us in Cicero or Cortland

Which one should you go to?

The honest answer is whichever is closer to your house, and it matters less than firms usually imply.

People assume they should pick the office nearest the courthouse. For Central New York that reasoning does not hold, because most of the courts in both counties sit in towns and villages rather than in Syracuse or Cortland. A ticket written in Manlius is heard in Manlius. A case from Marathon is heard in Marathon. Neither of our offices is next door to either, and neither is any downtown address.

So the sensible split is simply geographic:

• North of Syracuse — Cicero, Brewerton, Clay, Liverpool, North Syracuse, Baldwinsville, and Syracuse itself. Use the Cicero office.
• Cortland County and south — Cortland, Homer, Cortlandville, Marathon, Virgil, Preble, Truxton. Use the Cortland office.

If you are somewhere between the two, take whichever drive you would rather do. The work is the same and the files move between offices without anybody noticing.

What each office handles

The same six practice areas from both. What changes is the county, and therefore which courts your matter is heard in.

Real estate closings and bankruptcy run from both offices and are not split by county: real estate ·bankruptcy. Whichever office you use, you will be working with one of the two partners.

You may not need to come in at all

A fair amount of what we do never requires a visit:

• A traffic ticket. Text a photo of the front and back to 315-345-4128 and we can usually tell you what you are facing without you leaving the house.
• An uncontested divorce. It is decided on the papers, and in a genuinely uncontested case neither spouse appears in court. Plenty of people do the whole thing by email and post.
• A first conversation about an injury. If you are not up to travel, say so. That is a normal thing to need after a crash, and we will work around it.

Remote meetings by FaceTime, Skype or Zoom are available for any matter, at either office.

What to bring if you do come in

Whatever paper you already have, and no more than that. Typically:

• The ticket, the accident report, or the papers you were served.
• Anything an insurance company has sent you, including the envelope it came in, dates matter.
• The court notice, if there is one, because the return date on it is the thing that cannot be missed.
• Photographs, if you took any.

If you have none of it, come anyway. A first conversation does not require a file, and waiting until you have assembled one is how deadlines get missed.

Questions about visiting

Which office should I go to?

Whichever is closer to you. For a court matter it makes very little difference, most of the courts in both counties sit in towns and villages outside Cicero and Cortland anyway, so neither office is meaningfully nearer to the courthouse you are going to.

Do I need an appointment?

No. Both offices take walk-ins during business hours, and both keep Saturday available by appointment. Calling ahead is still worth doing, because it means somebody is expecting you and has time set aside for your matter, which usually makes for a better first conversation than arriving cold.

Do I have to come in at all?

Often not. A great deal gets handled by phone, text, email and post. For a traffic ticket, texting a photo of the front and back is usually all we need to tell you what you are facing. Remote meetings by FaceTime, Skype or Zoom are available.

What should I bring?

Whatever paper you already have. The ticket, the accident report, the letter from the insurer, the court notice, the papers you were served. If you do not have any of it yet, come anyway, a first conversation does not require a file.

Is the first meeting free?

Yes, at both offices and in every area we practice, and there is no obligation afterwards. If it turns out you do not need a lawyer at all, we will tell you that rather than sell you something. It is a conversation, not a sales appointment.

Which office handles which cases?

Both offices handle the same work across all of our practice areas. The practical difference is county rather than case type: Cicero is the base for Onondaga County matters and Cortland for Cortland County, mostly because that is where the filings and the courts are.

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