Since our start in 1996, Collins, Zorn & Wagner has litigated on behalf of clients as well as helped clients avoid litigation. We provide the highest standards of excellence and integrity in aggressively representing our clients. The wealth and talent of experience combined with the shared vision of our dedicated attorneys and support staff uniquely differentiates our commitment to meet the needs and objectives of our clients. We listen to, collaborate with, and protect our clients every step of the way.
PRACTICE AREAS
Appellate Practice
Our attorneys have more than twenty years of appellate practice. We are highly qualified in all areas of appeals in both state and federal courts. Many of our attorneys are admitted to practice before the highest courts in Oklahoma, the Federal Circuit Courts of Appeal and the Supreme Court of the United States.
Insurance & Bad Faith Law
Our attorneys have experience in handling general liability claims, including automobile liability, construction and building liability, slip and fall cases, and other general negligence cases. Our experience includes successful outcomes on behalf of individuals, private businesses, and governmental entities in arbitrations, mediations, and trials in various general insurance and liability matters.
Personal Injury Law
Our attorneys have widespread experience in assisting individuals in personal injury matters as well as representing companies in the defense of personal injury cases. We provide expertise in all types of personal injury and wrongful death issues, including automobile accidents, on-the-job accidents, burn injuries, birth injuries, medical malpractice, product injuries, and drug and medication injuries.
Civil Litigation
Our attorneys provide quality dispute resolution to individuals, private businesses, and governmental entities in every area of civil litigation. We are committed to working mindfully with our clients at all levels, from administrative proceedings to the Supreme Court of the United States. We have a relentless history of successfully resolving the needs of our clients in civil rights matters, contract disputes, labor and employment issues, personal injury cases, manufacturer’s products liability, workers’ compensation cases, and insurance defense litigation.
Product Liability Law
Our attorneys have successfully represented clients in a variety of product liability cases involving injuries caused by consumer products, household appliances and commercial and industrial equipment. Our representation in both federal and state courts has involved a variety of products for many different industries, including defective manufacture, defective design, failure to properly warn, and other defects.
Workers’ Compensation Law
Our highly experienced workers’ compensation attorneys have defended employers before the Workers’ Compensation Court in both Oklahoma City and Tulsa for more than twenty years. Our attorneys work hand and hand with employers, both private and governmental, on the myriad of workers’ compensation issues that arise from today’s environment. Our workers’ compensation attorneys along with our employment attorneys are available to advise employers on the many issues faced by employers in the workplace.
We also assist injured employees obtain the benefits to which they are entitled under the workers’ compensation system. We handle all aspects of a claim from the initial filing through the appeals process. We are skilled in the areas of temporary total disability payments, permanent partial disability assessments and ratings, total disability assessments and ratings, medical treatment, rehabilitation services, vocational retraining, wrongful termination, and retaliatory discharge.
Civil Rights
Our attorneys have more than twenty years of experience in both defending and asserting civil rights claims in all aspects of litigation, including due process, equal protection, free speech, political and religious expression, arrests, searches, seizures, shootings, excessive force, police pursuits, jail suicide, and jail conditions. We have litigated these claims in the Supreme Court of the United States, the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, the United States District Federal Courts, the Oklahoma District Courts, and in administrative proceedings. We have been honored to defend the majority of Oklahoma’s seventy-seven political subdivisions as well as numerous towns and cities. Additionally, we have had the privilege of representing several other public entities in civil rights matters, including the Oklahoma Corporation Commission, Oklahoma Department of Corrections, Oklahoma Department of Veterans Affairs, Oklahoma Department of Transportation, Oklahoma State University, Langston University, Oklahoma Panhandle State A&M University, Northeastern A&M College, and Connors State College.
Governmental Law
Our firm is committed to serving the public. Many of our attorneys have several years of experience in public service, including prior service in the United States Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Oklahoma, Oklahoma Office of the Attorney General, Lincoln County District Attorney’s Office, Oklahoma County District Attorney’s Office, Washington County District Attorney’s Office, City of Oklahoma City Municipal Counselor’s Office, Oklahoma Department of Public Safety, and Oklahoma County Public Defender’s Office.
Our attorneys provide effective and efficient legal services to meet the distinctive needs of local governments. Our philosophy is to provide advice and representation that allows policymakers and boards to achieve their goals while minimizing legal risk. We represent public agencies, including the majority of Oklahoma’s seventy-seven county governments, a vast number of Oklahoma municipalities, as well as other public agencies. We have extensive experience advising and representing public agencies on all areas of civil rights, employment law, and government operations.
Labor & Employment Law
Employment and labor laws rapidly change in today’s business environment. Our attorneys are experienced in providing guidance in all aspects of the employer and employee relationship, including hiring, performance reviews, wage and hour issues, disciplinary procedures, and firing. Our attorneys conduct internal employment investigations, present seminars for employers and supervisors, and develop policy and procedure manuals, employee handbooks, and employment agreements. We provide counseling to minimize or completely avoid employment litigation. Should an employment issue become a matter for litigation, our expertise and determination work to our clients’ advantage.
Our attorneys are accomplished in the vast majority of employment and labor law areas, including discrimination based on race, color, national origin, sex, gender, sexual orientation, genetic makeup, religion, creed, age, marital status, pregnancy, disability, smoking, union activity, military status, jury service, whistle blower activity, and for exercising rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act, Bankruptcy Act, Clean Air Act, Consumer Credit Protection Act, Family Medical Leave Act, Fair Labor Standards Act, Age Discrimination in Employment Act, First Amendment to the United States Constitution, Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Title VII, and the Workers’ Compensation Act.