Practice Areas
Personal Injury
Have you been injured in an accident? Has a loved one died as a result of an injury caused by a third party? The attorneys at Parker Hurst & Burnett PLC represent injured parties and families who mourn the wrongful death of a loved one. We handle all aspects of your claim, from the initial investigation of your case, complicated insurance coverage issues, hospital bills, subrogation and lien claims, to the administration of an estate, if necessary. Our attorneys handle cases involving car accidents, truck accidents, employment accidents, wrongful death and other injury claims. Our attorneys are also skilled at determining all insurance coverage avenues that may be available for a particular accident, and are skilled at making and defending claims involving accidents and death.
Business Law
Business law includes all aspects of legal matters involved in establishing and operating various types of business organizations. Common types of business organizations include corporations, limited liability companies, limited liability limited partnerships, general partnerships, limited partnerships, and sole proprietorships. The attorneys at Parker Hurst & Burnett PLC regularly establish business entities for clients, provide representation in the operation of those businesses, including regulatory and business dispute matters, as well as representing parties involved in business dissolutions. Our attorneys are also experienced in franchise relationships including franchisor/franchisee dispute resolution, and representation of franchisees in negotiations with franchisors and third party vendors and suppliers.
Creditor's Rights
The attorneys at Parker Hurst & Burnett PLC provide general representation to creditors in collecting money and pursuing collateral on which they have leased or claim a lien. Many of our clients are lenders, cooperatives, car dealers, rent-to-own companies, finance companies, contractors, real estate brokers, agents, and other business owners who regularly deal in credit and lease transactions. Our attorneys handle claims involving the collection of money and money judgments, registration of foreign judgments, mechanics and materialmens liens, storage liens, medical liens, warehouseman’s and agricultural liens and claims, and other types of lawful lien claims. Our attorneys represent clients involved in effecting asset seizures and forced sales of a debtor’s property through execution, replevin, self-help and foreclosure and garnishments of a debtor’s wages. We provide representation as early as an initial demand letter through litigation and sometimes bankruptcy. We handle consumer, business and agricultural claims.
Estate Planning
Estate planning generally involves the careful planning and preparing of an estate plan, which is usually accomplished through the creation of a will, a trust, or a family limited partnership or limited liability company. An estate plan allows a person to provide for the care and custody of a minor child, the administration of financial and health care decisions in the event of incapacity through powers of attorney, the establishment of guardianships, and the management or disposition of assets in the event of death. Our attorneys are experienced in establishing special needs trusts for disabled minor children and adults. The attorneys at Parker Hurst & Burnett PLC provide advanced estate planning and guardianship strategies that allow families and individuals to control their affairs while providing for the continuance of their lifestyle and protecting their wealth and income from legal actions and creditors to the maximum extent provided by law. Our attorneys also assist clients with estate planning techniques that facilitate a person’s ability to pass assets to their heirs, maintain privacy and avoid the costs and delays of probate, and eliminate or reduce gift and estate taxes and generation skipping transfer taxes.
Probate
The death of a loved one can be very stressful and create issues that can be challenging and difficult to handle. It is often frustrating for families to deal with legal issues involved in a decedent’s affairs. The attorneys at Parker Hurst & Burnett PLC can help you navigate the details of your probate proceeding. In probate proceedings, there are numerous responsibilities involved for the administrator of the estate, including identifying and notifying all potential heirs and creditors, publication of certain notices required by law, managing assets, businesses, real estate and other investments, arranging for the transfer of assets to third parties. Our attorneys will work closely with the decedent’s accountant to ensure that the filing of estate tax returns are completed timely and accurately. Our attorneys are also experienced probate litigators and have handled will contests and other probate and family disputes.
Real Estate
Real estate law generally covers a party’s right to possess, use and enjoy real property. The right to possess, use and enjoy real property over the years has created numerous legal issues that involve our clients. The attorneys at Parker Hurst & Burnett PLC represent all parties involved in real estate and real estate transactions, including lenders, buyers, sellers, property owners, landlords, tenants and property owner’s associations. We handle legal issues relating to both commercial and residential real properties, including the leasing and sale of property, financing, acquiring, rezoning, developing, constructing and managing property. We assist title companies with title issue recommendations and deed preparation, and property owners with title insurance claims, easement issues, adverse possession claims, 1031 tax exchanges and quiet title actions. Our attorneys represent some of the leading real estate brokers and agents in the industry and are knowledgeable about the multiple facets and layers of real estate law.
Tort Law
Have you suffered harm from the wrongful acts of others? Our attorneys can assist with the recovery of monetary damages as compensation for those who are harmed by the culpable action or inaction of others whether intentional or negligent. Our attorneys can recover damages for tortious acts including damages for injury to person, damages for injury to personal property, damages for injury to real property, and punitive damages. The attorneys at Parker Hurst & Burnett PLC can assist you with product liability cases and personal injury claims where damages may be recovered for physical, psychological, and emotional injuries. These injuries may include permanent impairment, pain and suffering, disfigurement, humiliation, embarrassment, distress, impairment of earning capacity, lost wages or profits, medical costs, and out-of-pocket expenses.
Bankruptcy
The attorneys at Parker Hurst & Burnett PLC regularly assist their clients in bankruptcy representation in Chapters 7, 11, 12, and 13 proceedings. Our attorneys are capable of handling common bankruptcy tasks such as reaffirmation agreements, motions for relief from stay, objections to confirmation, exemptions, and proofs of claim, but are also experienced in proceedings involving claims related to a debtor’s discharge and the discharge of certain debt, preference actions, fraudulent conveyances claims, the initiation of involuntary proceedings, and other more complex bankruptcy issues. Our attorneys have been appointed special counsel to pursue litigation on behalf of the bankruptcy estate, have represented buyers of real property and other assets in bankruptcy, and have handled other complicated bankruptcy issues. Although our predominant practice is associated with the representation of creditors, our attorneys also represent debtors and junior lien holders in state court civil litigation matters.
Construction Law
Construction law contains many areas of the law including contract bidding, negotiation, bonding, building, insurance law, lien waivers and claims, litigation, and sometimes insolvency. Oftentimes, employment issues arise in representing construction companies. The attorneys at Parker Hurst & Burnett PLC are regularly engaged to represent parties in construction disputes, including contractors, subcontractors, engineers, architects, and homeowners. Our attorneys are familiar with the complexities created by written and verbal change orders and have experience in cases involving the standard AIA construction forms.
Banking Law
As the banking industry continues to evolve, our clients look to the attorneys at Parker Hurst & Burnett PLC to help navigate increasing difficulties related to credit and regulations. The attorneys at Parker Hurst & Burnett PLC work with lenders, as well as borrowers, guarantors, tenants, and other capital users, to analyze risk and develop both short and long terms plans in the finance industry. Our attorneys are often engaged to give borrower opinion letters and review loans and loan structure from both the lenders’ and borrowers’ perspectives.
The attorneys at Parker Hurst & Burnett PLC regularly counsel banks, trust companies, finance companies, and savings and loan associations as well as their holding companies, subsidiaries, affiliates, board members, executive officers, and committees in the performance of their powers and duties to each other, their shareholders, creditors and banking regulatory agencies such as the FDIC, OCC, and their respective state banking department.
Mergers and Acquisitions
The attorneys at Parker Hurst & Burnett PLC provide legal services to businesses and individuals in the buying and selling of their businesses and assets. Through our experience in real estate, tax, and business law, we are able to represent clients involved in both simple and complicated business transactions. We are regularly called to advise our clients on valuation of assets, structure of the transaction, negotiation, document preparation, due diligence assistance, indemnification and issues involving indemnity, non-compete clauses, confidentiality, consulting and employment agreements. The attorneys at Parker Hurst & Burnett PLC are also skilled at business succession planning and structuring transactions in a manner that will benefit both the buyer and seller. Our clients include accounting firms and businesses both large and small. We understand the importance of closing a deal and are skilled at avoiding problems and issues that can delay a closing.
Litigation
The attorneys at Parker Hurst & Burnett PLC believe litigation should typically be a last resort, but when properly implemented, litigation can be a required and useful tool. When litigation arises, whether you are the plaintiff or defendant, we are here to help you. If you have been sued or believe you may have a cause of action against an individual or entity, our attorneys provide prompt and aggressive representation. When litigation arises whether it is in your business or personal life, the attorneys at Parker Hurst & Burnett PLC are committed and knowledgeable and will zealously advocate on your behalf. Allowing our attorneys to assist you in your claim will afford you the peace of mind to focus on other more important matters. The attorneys at Parker Hurst & Burnett PLC represent clients in hearings, trials, arbitrations, and mediations in the Arkansas and Missouri state courts (District, Circuit, Court of Appeals and State Supreme Court) and Arkansas federal courts (District and Court of Appeals). Our attorneys have extensive litigation experience in contract cases, collections, construction and lien disputes, real estate disputes, insurance coverage disputes,employment issues, and other general business disputes.