TRIAL LAW. REAL ESTATE LAW. FAMILY LAW. CONSULTING.

There is an undeniable connection between the transactional and litigation practices, a relationship that is simply too essential to be ignored. An obvious example would be real estate transactions, which must be approached with a keen eye for litigation avoidance: only a seasoned litigator can achieve the most advantageous contracts. 

Litigation skills naturally pervade others practice areas as well, such as family law, where creating a record and eliciting relevant evidence play a critical role in the outcome. In fact, high-stakes Protection from Abuse Hearings are essentially mini-trials, the results hinging on the experience and training of a litigator.

The practice offerings at Dimmerman PC exist for a reason, namely because Mr. Dimmerman leverages skills from one practice area to achieve optimal results in another.  

In the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, real estate transactions seem to occur in something of an echo chamber, without regard for potentialities, those scenarios which oftentimes lead to expensive and arguably avoidable litigation. Because of the state of contract law, namely how coveted contracts are as expressions of the parties' understanding and intent, buyers and sellers can suffer the consequences of glossing over seemingly innocuous provisions or taking another person's word for it ("A lawyer is not required in Pennsylvania," "You can always back out of the contract because of the contingency provisions," or "An escrow agreement at closing will suffice to protect you." The parties are so emotionally invested in the deal (or are protecting another who may be) that perspectives are compromised and the atmosphere becomes one verging on delusion: everyone is euphoric, moving at the speed of light and optimistic that everything will simply work out. 

In Mr. Dimmerman's experience, nothing in life typically goes according to plan, and so why should a real estate transaction be any different? For instance, the condition of a rehabilitated property, new construction or even a standard resale is critical, and can have lasting repercussions for both a buyer and seller. Far too frequently, buyers entrust virtual strangers with significant sums of money, hoping that their money is safe or that problems will not arise, despite a nagging feeling that further due diligence and safeguards are in order. Unfortunately, when a problem does indeed arise, as to a tax abatement, latent defect, seller defect omission, deposit dispute, escrow dispute, common element dispute or title insurance coverage issue, for instance, that same hopeful buyer is forced to make a decision about whether to litigate, an emotionally charged, time-consuming and expensive process. So many buyers assume that real estate investors and developers are not intimately familiar with litigation and not strategizing even prior to contract execution, formulating creative ways to maximize profit with full knowledge of the difficulties associated with ADR and litigation. Mr. Dimmerman fully comprehends the nexus between contracts and litigation and can anticipate numerous scenarios, which can then be addressed preemptively as part of the negotiation and contract drafting process.