About
A Queens firm, since 1998
Twenty-five years in one neighborhood, doing the twelve kinds of law that neighborhood actually needs.
Our story
Founded above a storefront on Roosevelt Avenue
Margaret Halloran and a single associate opened the firm in 1998 in two rooms above a storefront, mostly doing closings and small business work for people who walked in. The practice grew the way the neighborhood did — a client who bought a house came back to form a company, then to write a will, then to bring their daughter in about a landlord.
We added practices to answer those calls rather than to chase a market. Immigration came in because half of Woodside needed it. Landlord-tenant came in because our closing clients became small landlords. Litigation came in because contracts we had drafted were being broken and someone had to try the case.
What has not changed
The office moved to 61st Street and grew to twelve attorneys, but the shape of the practice is the same: the lawyer you meet does your work, the fee is agreed in writing before anything starts, and if you do not need a lawyer we will say so.
We answer the phone during business hours, we keep Saturday morning appointments for people who cannot take a weekday off, and we return calls the same day. None of that is remarkable. It is simply rarer than it should be.
How we work
Four commitments we actually keep
01
The fee is agreed first
Flat fees for closings, formations, wills and uncontested divorces. Hourly work is quoted with a staged estimate. Injury work is contingency. You get it in writing before we start.
02
Your attorney is reachable
You get a direct line and an email address for the attorney on your file, not a general inbox. Calls are returned the same business day.
03
Plain language, always
You will be told what the document says, what the risk is and what we recommend, in words you can repeat to your spouse or your business partner.
04
We will tell you no
If the case is not worth bringing, if the settlement on the table is good, or if you do not need a lawyer at all, that is the advice you will get.
Where we appear
The courts we are in every week
- Queens County Supreme Court, Civil and Criminal Terms — Sutphin Boulevard and Queens Boulevard
- Queens County Family Court — Jamaica Avenue
- Queens County Surrogate’s Court — Jamaica Avenue
- Queens County Civil and Housing Court — Sutphin Boulevard
- U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York — Brooklyn and Central Islip
- U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Eastern District of New York
- New York Immigration Court — 26 Federal Plaza
- New York State DMV Traffic Violations Bureau and safety hearings
Talk to a Woodside attorney today
The first consultation is free and takes about thirty minutes. Tell us what happened and we will tell you honestly whether you need a lawyer, and what it should cost.