SCB - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Partner
- Principal
- Partner at the Firm of Sasscer
Frank R. Jones is a partner at the firm of Sasscer, Clagett and Bucher. Mr. Jones has successfully developed a practice concentrating in complex personal injury litigation, civil litigation, medical malpractice and criminal defense.
In December 1986, Frank R. Jones began his career as a prosecutor in the Prince George's County State's Attorney's Office. In less than two years, Mr. Jones was elevated to the Felony Trial Division, where he handled murder cases, violent crimes, (e.g. robberies, major assaults) and narcotics violations. While in the Felony Trial Division, Mr. Jones tried to verdict more jury trials than any other prosecutor and won the Division Chief's Award.
By October 1989, Frank R. Jones was recruited by the Charles County State's Attorney's Office and was appointed to Deputy State's Attorney. Mr. Jones was tasked with prosecuting major felony cases. Mr. Jones successfully prosecuted complex criminal cases including organized crime, outlaw motorcycle gangs, as well as obtaining convictions in over forty homicide cases.
Frank R. Jones entered private practice in January of 1998, with Sasscer, Clagett and Bucher. He became a partner in 2001. Mr. Jones has extensive trial and litigation experience with a wide range of civil cases. Mr. Jones is a member of the Million Dollar Advocate Forum, which is for lawyers who have successfully obtained million dollar verdicts or settlements. Mr. Jones has resolved and litigated multiple million dollar cases for his clients, including, more recently, a $2.5 million Wrongful Death/Survival Action..
Frank R. Jones is known by his colleagues as a sharp and gifted cross-examiner. He litigates a considerable number of plaintiffs' cases that are referred from other attorneys, due to his experience in complex litigation. Mr. Jones has served on the Board of Directors for the Charles County Bar Association and is a past President of the Charles County Bar Association.
Mr. Jones is an AV rated attorney by Martindale Hubbell and enjoys a 10 out of 10 rating on AVVO. He is a graduate of the University of Richmond and the George Mason School of Law.
Practice Areas
Link to: Product & Automotive Liability
Job Titles:
- Lead Paralegal at the Firm of Sasscer
Joan V. Wilde is the Lead Paralegal at the firm of Sasscer, Clagett & Bucher. She has been employed with the firm since 1997. In 1997, she began working as an Administrative Assistant and in 2003 became a Paralegal. Ms. Wilde assists attorneys in the firm who practice in the areas of personal injury, medical malpractice, legal malpractice, and insurance defense. She graduated from Fleet Business School in 1982; received a Paralegal Diploma from Thomson Education Direct in 2003; and a Paralegal Certificate from the College of Southern Maryland in 2014. For R&R, Ms. Wilde enjoys boating, fishing, crabbing, and quilting.
Job Titles:
- Partner
- Partner at the Firm of Sasscer
Mark Thomas Foley is a partner at the firm of Sasscer, Clagett & Bucher. He has received the highest rating of Superb by Avvo an attorney rating service and has been honored as a Super Lawyer for the past 8 years. The Super Lawyer honor is issued to no more than 5% of Maryland Lawyers.
His practice involves a broad range of civil and criminal matters, including but not limited to personal injury, legal and medical malpractice, criminal defense, and specialized insurance defense work. Having been involved in hundreds of jury trials with favorable verdicts, Mr. Foley's practice encompasses both state and federal court.
Mr. Foley, an AV rated attorney, is recognized by his colleagues and clients as a gifted and experienced trial attorney particularly for achieving successful verdicts in cases with complicated medical or legal issues. Mr. Foley is rated the highest score of 10 (out of 10) by AVVO, an independent national attorney rating service.
Prior to joining the firm in 1993, Mr. Foley served as a veteran prosecutor within the State's Attorney's Office for Prince George's County, prosecuting homicide cases for four years, and then serving as Chief of the Felony Division. During that period, he was appointed as a special prosecutor for Montgomery County, and successfully prosecuted a notorious homicide case captioned State of Maryland v. Lisa Rubin.
Mr. Foley is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame and the Georgetown University Law Center where he graduated cum laude.
Practice Areas
Link to: Product & Automotive Liability
Job Titles:
- Partner
- Partner at the Firm of Sasscer
Michael L. Adams is a partner at the firm of Sasscer, Clagett & Bucher. He is a trial attorney who concentrates his practice in the areas of business litigation, government relations, criminal defense and personal injury.
As a litigator, Michael represents clients throughout the state of Maryland. With his significant jury trial experience, Michael is routinely called upon to assist a wide array of clients including local and national corporations, public utilities, and individuals who have suffered a life changing injury. In his criminal practice, Michael aggressively defends those who have been charged with offenses ranging from minor misdemeanors to first degree murder.
In addition to his trial work, Michael currently heads the firm's government relations practice. In this capacity he regularly advocates for clients before the Maryland General Assembly. He believes that the key to effective lobbying is not just a reliance on relationships, but a nuanced study and understanding of the law affecting a particular issue. This combination allows him to navigate his clients through the legislative process efficiently and effectively.
Prior to joining Sasscer, Clagett and Bucher, Michael served as law clerk to the Honorable Leo E. Green, Jr. of the Prince George's County Circuit Court. He is a graduate, with honors, of the University of St. Andrews, Scotland. After St. Andrews, Michael returned home to earn his law degree from the University of Maryland, Francis King Carey School of Law.
In 2023, he will serve as President of Prince George's County Bar Association. He is admitted to practice throughout Maryland by the Court of Appeals of Maryland and the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland.
Practice Areas
Link to: Product & Automotive Liability
Job Titles:
- Senior Personal Injury Paralegal
Michelle Jones is a senior personal injury paralegal and the main point of contact for accident clients in the firm's La Plata office. Prior to joining the firm in 2013, Ms. Jones had a lengthy and successful legal career working for the late Hon. Christopher Henderson, Circuit Court Judge for Charles County, Md. She is a University of Maryland graduate and an active member of various civic and business associations in Charles County including The Southern Maryland Women's League and Swan Point Women's Golf Association. Outside of work, she enjoys golfing, boating, occasional trips to warm and sandy southern climates, and spending time with her husband, Frank, and her two adult children, Haley and Julia.
Phillip R. Zuber has been named a "top 50" Maryland and "top 100" Washington, D.C. Super Lawyer and "top 10" Washington, D.C. Super Lawyer. He is a Fellow in the prestigious American College of Trial Lawyers, a member of the Maryland State Bar Association subcommittee on civil pattern jury instructions and a lecturer to the Maryland Judicial Institute. For over 30 years, he has practiced in the complex areas of medical malpractice (especially obstetrical, neonatal and emergency medicine issues), electric utility accidents, defense attorney liability and ethics cases, highway fatalities and catastrophic personal injuries. He is outside products liability counsel for an international industrial manufacturer.
Phil Zuber has served on the Maryland State Committee for the American College of Trial Lawyers and has given talks to doctors, nurses, risk managers, and insurance companies, on a wide range of medical and attorney malpractice related subjects, taught a Litigation Skills Course to law students at the University of Baltimore Law School, and serves on the Maryland State Bar Association Subcommittee on Maryland Pattern Jury Instructions - Civil. He is a Master in the J. Dudley Digges Inn of Court.
While based in Upper Marlboro, Mr. Zuber has had cases and trials in many Counties in the State of Maryland. Mr. Zuber has been counsel in hundreds of cases involving multi-million dollar claims. Among his many community activities, Mr. Zuber has served on the Board of Trustees for Bryn Athyn College as the Chairman of its Legal Advisory Committee.
Mr. Zuber attended the University of Maryland College Park (B.A., high honors), and received his law degree from the University of Maryland School of Law with honors. He served on the student editorial board of the Maryland Law Review.
Practice Areas
Link to: Product & Automotive Liability
Sheila F. Fleshman has tried and/or handled hundreds of cases over the course of her 20 + year career as a trial attorney. Her trial experience has enabled her to recover over a million dollars collectively for her clients who have been injured as a result of someone else's negligence. She handles a multitude of cases involving those who have been injured as a result of motor vehicle accidents, dog bite wounds, and slip and fall accidents, etc.
Sheila Fleshman is a member of five (5) bars, which include the State of Maryland, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (*inactive), the United States District Court for the District of Maryland (Federal), and the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. Early in her legal career, she participated in oral argument in a case which resulted in a victory for a disabled individual who had previously been denied disability benefits. Ms. Fleshman has also appeared and argued cases before the District of Columbia Court of Appeals, the Court of Special Appeals in Maryland and the Untied States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.
Ms. Fleshman's trial skills were initially developed during her tenure as an Assistant State's Attorney for Prince George's County, Maryland where she handled a variety of different cases, including homicides, drug offenses, and other crimes against persons.
While Ms. Fleshman's past and present trial results speak for themselves, her accomplishments as a trial attorney earned her an Honorary Governor's Citation for her work. In addition, in the civil area, some of Ms. Fleshman's cases have been the subject of published reports in various Jury Verdict Reporters and in the official published opinions for the Maryland Court of Special Appeals and in the Untied States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.
Some individual and businesses prefer to utilize a mediator or arbitrator to resolve their disputes. Ms. Fleshman is available and has previously acted as a civil mediator and/or arbitrator in order to resolve legal disputes outside of a courtroom setting. Fellow lawyers and associates, who consider Ms. Fleshman's record of success in the courtroom to be impressive, frequently refer cases to her to try. Ms. Fleshman whole-heartedly recognizes the entitlement of all members of the community to quality legal representation regardless of racial, economic, social, or religious background. Ms. Fleshman prides herself on being considered a "Go to" lawyer for personal injury cases by certain colleagues and former clients. * See her AVVO client ratings on line.
Some of her more noteworthy jury trials and settlements include the following:
Ms. Fleshman represented a client who was permanently disabled and disfigured after she sustained serious spinal cord injuries in a motor vehicle collision.
Ms. Fleshman represented a client who was seriously injured and disabled from returning to work in her former work capacity due to significant back and shoulder injuries that she sustained while she was a passenger in an automobile. The client underwent surgery to her low back and to her shoulder area. The insurance company only offered approximately $8,000.00 to settle the case, claiming the client's injuries were pre-existing. Ms. Fleshman fought the case for her client and the jury awarded over $280,000.00 in damages.
Ms. Fleshman represented a client who was injured when a portion of a ceiling collapsed and fell on her head, neck and shoulder area in the laundry room of an apartment complex. The apartment complex denied any prior knowledge that the ceiling had ever been in a dangerous or defective condition. The apartment complex's representatives also argued that the client was not injured to the extent that she claimed based in part on the fact that she had previously undergone neck surgery. Ms. Fleshman was able to fight the apartment complex's claim that it had no prior notice of the ceiling being in a dangerous or defective condition. An independent search by Ms. Fleshman revealed that there was indeed a prior record of the defective condition of the ceiling area in the apartment laundry room. As a result of Ms. Fleshman's ability to locate these prior records, the case settled for nearly $300,000.00.
Ms. Fleshman successfully resolved to the client's satisfaction a case where the client and her dog were attacked and sustained serious injuries by a neighborhood dog. Although more than one person/ entity was potentially liable for the attack, Ms. Fleshman was able to achieve a settlement agreement and the party that the client believed to be the major cause of the incident. The case settled for about $100,000.
Ms. Fleshman attended Sidwell Friends High School in Washington, D.C., Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts, and the George Washington University School of Law in Washington, D.C.
Practice Areas
Link to: Product & Automotive Liability
Taylor R. Koncen is a Maryland attorney who concentrates his practice in the areas of insurance defense and medical malpractice.
Taylor was born and raised in Southern Maryland. He attended Waynesburg University where he obtained a degree in Human Services. Upon graduation, Taylor attended the University of Baltimore School of Law, where he graduated in 2019. While in law school, Taylor was an Associate Editor for the University of Baltimore Law Forum and participated in the American Bar Association Section of Labor and Employment Law Student Trial Advocacy Competition.
Prior to joining the firm, Taylor served as a judicial law clerk to the Honorable Glenn L. Klavans in the Circuit Court for Anne Arundel County.
Job Titles:
- Partner
- Maryland Bar Fellow
Thomas A. McManus has been practicing law for more than thirty-six years, and for the past twenty-six years he has been a partner at the firm. He began his career as a law clerk for the Hon. Joseph Mattingly in St. Mary's County Maryland and then worked as a prosecutor in both St. Mary's and Prince George's County. He continues to utilize his broad experience in litigating both civil and criminal matters, including a wide range of business disputes, in courts throughout the state. He believes that hard work and preparation are the keys to obtaining successful results for his clients. He has been designated as a Super Lawyer for the sixth consecutive year and for more than twenty years has enjoyed an AV rating - the highest rating for legal ability and ethics.
Tom McManus has a wide-ranging practice representing both plaintiffs and defendants in civil cases, as well as those accused of breaking the law in criminal matters. He appears in Court in Prince George's County, Anne Arundel County, Howard County, and Southern Maryland.
He recently obtained a favorable settlement on behalf of a brain injured client in the Circuit Court for Prince George's County, and successfully represented a criminal defendant in a high-profile case in St. Mary's County. He represents clients in land use disputes in both Calvert and St. Mary's County. His specialty in truck accident cases takes him to courthouses throughout the State. In August of 2013, he won a verdict in favor of a prominent national truck company in Bel Air, Maryland. Later that year, he also successfully defended a truck accident claim in Washington County. He is actively involved in estate litigation in both Montgomery and Prince George's County and has a number of pending business dispute cases, primarily in Calvert and St. Mary's County.
In July of 2013, the Maryland Court of Appeals honored Mr. McManus by appointing him to the Attorney Grievance Commission, where he was one of nine lawyers and three laypersons who oversee the attorney discipline process in Maryland.
Tom McManus is a Maryland Bar Fellow and a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation. He remains active in the Prince George's County Bar Association. In the past several years he has been asked to testify before the House Judiciary Committee about the effects of proposed legislation extending liability to the manufacturers of the lead-based pigment. He has frequently lectured the Prince George's County State's Attorney's office in trial techniques.