Primary Areas of Focus:
Family Law including divorce, child custody, alimony, contempt, child support, modification, equitable division, parents’ rights and grandparents’ visitation.Business and Commercial Litigation, business disputes, debt collection, small claims, corporate and business strategies.Personal injury and wrongful death claims from wrecks, auto accidents, products liability, and negligence.
Honors and Distinctions:
Regular contributor to HuffPost Live webcasts on family law issues
12.05.2012 Spend the Inheritance?
09.17.2012 Divorce With Young Children
Regular legal contributor to AVVO
Representative Highlights:
DIVORCE AND CUSTODY CASES: As an advocate for either parent, as a mediator and as a Guardian ad Litem, saving the parents from the financial, emotional and physical toll of prolonged battles while seeking fair and reasonable outcomes.
RESULTS: He is almost always able to bring the parents to a resolution that benefits their child or children and saves the parents substantial attorneys’ fees and significant turmoil.
WRONGFUL DEATH CASE: One of the lead attorneys and part of a team of attorneys representing four family members whose 3 relatives ages 8 months to 43 years old were the victims.
RESULTS: He was instrumental in bringing the case to a settlement for $8.75 million (though he believed the claims were worth more if the case was tried to a jury, settling was the right thing to do for the family members).
STUDENT IN SCHOOL SUSPENSION CASE: A divorced mother called about her son’s in-school suspension and Child Protective Services involvement. The father lived in another county, with better schools and away from the troublesome classmates.
RESULTS: Within 30 minutes, in order to get her child on a good path, the mother had a plan to get a copy of her divorce decree (she did not have one), work with the father to move the child to the neighboring county where the father lived, and present the plan to the juvenile court that now was involved.
David DeLugas has 32 years of experience in family law, business and commercial matters, and personal injury and wrongful death claims and actions in private practice and while associated with some of the most prestigious law firms in St. Louis and in Atlanta.
He is also an advocate of the right of parents to raise their children as the parents determine without government interference except when necessary to protect children from harm. His clients have included as many mothers as fathers.
In business and commercial matters, he has represented businesses and individuals in their disputes, some that resulted in lawsuits being filed or being defended, most that resolved by settlement agreements, and many that have gone through trials before juries or before judges. When representing parties who have conflict, David has developed a pragmatic approach for his clients to avoid problems and to have their businesses and personal lives operate as smoothly as possible in a litigious world.
Whether you hire an attorney (and he can assist in your negotiating, that’s right, negotiating the fee you would pay an attorney) or you first attempt to resolve your claims without an attorney which may “net” you more in a settlement, David will help you be realistic about your claims and teach you how to preserve evidence and to present and negotiate on your own.
A trial attorney knows how to battle, but, like a good warrior, knows that battles come at a price. As a highly experienced mediator, David can help you defuse a difficult situation and seek a resolution that is inexpensive to attain, expeditious without a long delay, and may preserve the personal and/or business relationship that otherwise would be destroyed in the legal battle, the alternative to a negotiated or mediated outcome.
What to expect from the Coach:
As the Coach, he will guide and educate you on how to set clear goals that benefit your child/children and you and how to make the best effort possible to attain those goals.
As the Coach, David will cut to the chase and assist you in personal and business matters to seek the best outcome possible by helping you make a valid, reasonable and honest risk vs. reward analysis.In a no-nonsense manner, David is capable of helping you assess your situation, come up with the options available to you, decide on a course of action and seek the outcome you want, doing so in the most efficient and effective manner possible.