Attention Ohio Certified Public Accountants
We Help Businesses With:
Company Formations | Litigation |Â Outside General Counsel |Â B2B Contract Claims |Â Debt Renegotiation, Cancellation, & Settlement |Â Residential and Commercial Foreclosure Defense |Â And More
Call (888) 200-9824 or fill out the form below.
Top-Rated Business Legal Help
Doucet Gerling has helped over 1,600 consumers and businesses throughout Ohio with their legal issues.  Doucet Gerling Co LPA is BBB Accredited and maintains an A+ Rating. Attorneys Doucet and Gerling are rated AV Preeminent by Martindale Hubbell and have been "SuperLawyers" for several years. CPAs - put our knowledge of business and debt law to work for your clients.Â
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Value for Your Client's Money
Doucet Gerling is efficient. As a CPA, we know that is something you will appreciate.Â
We are likely much more efficient than the larger law firms in the area. As attorneys who regularly represent people facing major financial challenges, we have to be. Our clients do not have unlimited amounts of money to spend on lawyers. They need us to do a great job at an affordable cost. That means we must work hard while respecting our clients’ bottom line.
We accept business litigation cases on flat monthly payment arrangement, and others on a traditional hourly basis. Our business litigation fee agreements drive us to be as efficient as possible so that we can properly handle more cases than our opponents. We would rather be helping more clients than running up a bill. Our historical average time into each matter bears that out.  Our outside general counsel work is also usually on a flat monthly payment arrangement.
As to our litigation matters through 2015-2020, 52% of our closed matters were resolved in less than 36 billed hours.  We resolved 82% of our clients’ matters in under 100 hours. That includes staff time.Â
In addition to being efficient, we do not shy away from a fight when that is needed. This is important to note because the other side needs to know we will go the extra mile when needed. That is reflected in the 18% of cases we worked over 100 hours. Seven percent of our cases have over 200 hours into them, which represent some of our biggest matters, including class actions. For example, Mr. Doucet was appointed to a Multi-District Litigation (MDL) panel last year in a class action lawsuit against the Department of Education for TEACH grant errors.
We will have a pretty good sense of how much time our clients' legal issues will take during our first phone call. Our estimation gets better after they deliver the first batch of documents for us to review. If you have a client looking for more affordable legal counsel, ask them to give us a call today toll free at (888) 200-9824. Our initial consultation is free.
OH Business Litigation Attorneys
About Our Owners
Troy Doucet maintains an AV Preeminent rating with Martindale Hubbell® and is a SuperLawyer® in the area debtor/creditor law. He graduated magna cum laude from Capital University Law School in 2010 after working professionally in the mortgage business for several years. As an attorney, he has handled hundreds of trial-level cases and dozens of appeals. He has tried about a dozen cases in state and federal court, to the bench and also to a jury.  Mr. Doucet has been practicing law in Ohio since 2010.Â
A couple of years ago, Troy was named a High Stakes Litigator for Ohio by America’s Top 100 High Stakes Litigators®. He represented a farming business in a $3 million dispute after the sale of the business went sideways. The firm litigated that case to conclusion through the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. Read more about Troy Doucet's story.
Andy Gerling maintains an AV Preeminent rating with Martindale Hubbell and is ranked as one of the "three best consumer lawyers" in Columbus by ThreeBest Rated®. He has remained a SuperLawyer Rising Star for multiple years. Mr. Gerling is nearing 20 years in the legal industry. He graduated cum laude from Capital University Law School. Mr. Gerling works directly with new lawyers at the firm and has shaped a number of cases the firm litigates. Read about Andy Gerling.*
Business Lawyers who go the Extra Mile
In our area of law, having an attorney willing to go the extra mile can make all the difference. If you were the other side, you would think carefully about getting into a long, costly business litigation battle with opposing lawyers that were willing to fight tooth and nail for their client. It would probably make more sense to settle those kinds of business litigation cases and move on to easier prey. That is our perspective on aggressively defending our clients, and how we have gotten good deals. Past successes are never a guarantee of future results, but the following are some examples of how we have helped our clients by going the extra mile:
Pastry Shop Walk-Away
We helped a client negotiate a walk-away from her pastry shop after working unsuccessfully for several years to make it profitable. She bought the company by financing several hundred thousand dollars directly with the seller, and personally guaranteed the sale. We helped her negotiate an exit with a 75% reduction in the balance due. It protected her assets and helped her avoid bankruptcy while giving her a clean break from an unprofitable business.
Hotel Sublease Cancellation
In another case, we helped an innkeeper cancel a sublease on one of his properties that was costing him significant sums in unpaid taxes, insurance, and utilities. The other party had vacated the property but refused to acknowledge the termination of the lease. We negotiated the lease termination without having to file a lawsuit and recovered over $30,000 for our client.
Short Sale of CEO's Home
When one of our client’s income dropped 30% with losses to his business, we managed the short sale of one of the business owner’s homes. Our work allowed him to sell the property for less than the loan amount with a waiver of the deficiency. Our involvement turned out to be critical because the lender attempted to reinsert a damaging clause just before closing.
Landlord Lease Violation
Another of our clients was opening a nursery but his landlord failed to build out part of the space as promised. Our client lost substantial sums in reliance of the landlord’s promises. We sued to recover his losses. The case went to a trial, where a jury awarded our client more than his initial demand.
Doucet Gerling has hundreds of examples of helping people out of difficult legal challenges, both defending lawsuits and filing them. Some of our most cited appellate cases are those that we filed against banks on behalf of people. They include getting a payoff recognized, forcing overpayments to be properly credited, developing RICO precedent for robo-signing, and protecting a business from fraudulent checks under the UCC. We understand how to manage conflict and would welcome an opportunity to discuss how we can help you, too. Call us today at (888) 200-9824.
Business Lawyers Focused on Our Clients' Objectives
We believe in keeping our clients’ objectives in mind at all phases of their cases. Our clients do not want us to bill hundreds of hours into a case that can be resolved quickly. If settlement is possible early, then it makes sense to talk settlement early. This does not mean we give up the farm to call it quits. Rather, it means we do not waste months of time fighting over silly things that run up a bill. As lawyers who fight against big firms every day, that kind of business litigation billing drives us as mad as much as it costs their clients money.
Our efficiency means big savings for our clients. 42% of our cases are resolved in six months or less, while 70% of all our cases are resolved in under one year.   Our average time billed into each firm matter from start to close is only 69.01 hours. That time includes both attorney and staff time, all the way through settlement negotiations and closing. Compare that to some of the other big firms in town, and we are confident that we can comparatively save you money.
Contact Doucet Gerling for help in Ohio now!
