JACOB P. WELCH, ESQ., born in 1953, was raised in Corning, New York, surrounded by a family of lawyers. His father, Vincent J. Welch, and his namesake uncle, Jacob G. Welch, began a law practice in Corning shortly following World War II. Both are now deceased. Jacob P. Welch has two brothers and a nephew who are also attorneys. The Welch attorneys have enjoyed a reputation of providing excellent legal services to the local community for over a half century.

Since starting in practice in 1980, Jacob P. Welch has focused his entire legal career in trial work. He has exhibited consistent and excellent legal skills. He has been rated “high to very high” by his counterparts in Martindale-Hubble, the most widely known book published about lawyers and their ratings.

Mr. Welch is also one of the very rare attorneys who practices in the Southern Tier of New York who has personally obtained four personal injury settlements topping the million dollar mark. He has also been a long-term member of the American Trial Lawyers’ Association. Furthermore, he is one of only two regional representatives serving the Trial Section of the New York State Bar Association, Seventh Judicial District – an area spanning from Corning to Rochester. This is a position of high honor in trial attorney circles.

Mr. Welch has tried numerous cases both in State and Federal Courts. Many of these have been in front of local juries.

His key strengths include keen/strong knowledge of local judges and juries and lengthy past experience with many local doctors who may be called to testify or write a report for your case. (His wife, as well, is a local nurse practitioner with over fifteen years experience in personal injury, wrongful death and valid medical malpractice cases. She becomes a readily available asset when Mr. Welch tackles medical issues arising in personal injury/wrongful death cases.)

In Mr. Welch’s twenty plus years as a personal injury attorney he has also developed the respect of many insurance adjusters, as well as defense attorneys. This is oftentimes critical in maximizing settlement of your case. Settlement is often preferred as opposed to taking your case fully through the risk of trial. If trial is required, however, you will find Mr. Welch to be a well prepared and experienced advocate, willing to stand up for your rights.

Perhaps most importantly, when you hire his firm you know the exact individual who will be speaking both with you and for you throughout your case. This is something that some other “media advertising” based firms do not provide their clients.

It would only be in the event of an unforeseen personal mishap that Mr. Welch would not be directly involved in your case. Should that arise Mr. Welch also has made outside associations with Attorney Peter Baker and Attorney Raymond Schlather.  Both of these men also routinely appear in local courts, have over twenty years worth of courtroom experience and are considered trustworthy and strong advocates for their clients. (You would, however, always have control over your choice of counsel.)

Courts, however, routinely make considerations for such personal matters affecting counsel by granting adjournments. Only in the rarest situation would backup assistance be required. Clients should feel comforted that even the unexpected is planned for with his firm.

With his firm, it is not about taking in large numbers of clients. Rather, it’s all about quality - it’s all about doing right by the client, every client, that steps in the door.

As a tribute to his competitive spirit Mr. Welch took up running hurdles (as he had in high school and college) and obtained the Gold Medal in the NYS Empire Games for his age class in 2004, 2005 and 2006.  In 2007 he competed in the State Games of America, a national competition, where he again placed first and took the gold.

While Mr. Welch may have a work hard/play hard approach to life clients may also enjoy that he is also a dedicated father/family man who deeply enjoys and participates in local hunting and fishing sports with his friends and family members. 

SUPPORT STAFF

Mr. Welch is assisted by two highly motivated and experienced paralegals. These individuals are bound to have contact with you during your case. They have performed admirably as legal secretaries prior to completing their paralegal education.

KATHLEEN TARSHUS holds an AAS degree from Alfred State College and began working as a legal secretary in 1976. Kathleen’s strengths include significant experience in all aspects of civil litigation, a fine eye toward detail, honed organizational skills, a questioning mind and exceptional personal abilities. You will find her incredibly professional in all that she does on your behalf.

ANNE WILLIAMS rounds out our highly experienced support staff having over 22 years of secretary/paralegal experience.  Anne started her life of adventure in Scotland and immigrated to the good old U.S.A. after having attended high school in England and the Sorbonne School of Dance in Paris, France.  She also taught at the Scottish Society of Professional Dance while in Scotland.  After coming to this country she became a registered medical assistant as well as certified legal assistant---a phenomenal background as a paralegal working in a personal injury law practice.  Anne has also been a volunteer for the American Red Cross, a Naval Medical Clinic and as an Ombudsman for a Naval SEAL Team.  You will find Anne both a highly interesting as well as efficient individual there to help you with your legal matters.

BETTY LUCAS brings over thirty years experience in the insurance field, (we even hire from the "other side").  She obtained her NYS Insurance Agents license in 1980 and specialized in the fields of personal and commercial lines until she joined our team.  Her background has been very helpful in (a) analyzing some of the intricacies that arise with insurance coverages and (b) dealing with clientele having insurance related questions, inclusive of no-fault protections.  You will note her high level of dedication, calmness and integrity when you speak with her.

Remember, the task of presenting your case is a “team effort”. The team involves (1) the client (or clients), (2) the attorney, and (3) the support staff. Everyone knows how critical it is to achieve 100% from everyone on any given team. Every player also has to know what they have to do to achieve set goals. It will not take you long to know the kind of dedicated and experienced team working for you at his office.

Some of the dollar results of this team effort are listed in this Web site. Click Verdicts and Settlements at the top left of the page to access these results.  We want you to know, however, that as his client, we are going to treat you as an individual with your own particular needs that might arise following a given injury. These needs might include
(1) speedy no-fault/disability filings and regular follow-up to keep family finances in order, or (2) dealing with some of the difficult emotions tied to self-worth that follow a major loss/disability. As said before, it’s “all about the clients” in our firm.