Dunn & Phillips has handled injury cases from 185 Belmont Avenue since 1990, and from Springfield since 1988. The main office sits at the Forest Park end of Belmont Avenue, a few blocks from the X, and it is open Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., with parking on site and walk-ins welcome. Call (413) 787-9955 during business hours. If you have just been hurt, the firm's injury line at (413) 426-8657 is answered by a live person 24 hours a day, by call or text.
Cornelius W. Phillips, III, who founded the firm with Eileen Dunn and has practiced law in Western Massachusetts since 1979, works from this office. He is from Springfield, and his work over four decades spans serious personal injury and motor vehicle accidents alongside real estate, probate and estate planning. The injury team here includes Valentina Davydov, Senior Paralegal, who has been with the firm since 1999 and assists clients in Russian and Ukrainian; Sultan Yanbul, Paralegal, and Busra Kalkan, Legal Assistant, who assist clients in Turkish; and Lauren Grachuk, Legal Assistant. Paralegals and legal assistants are not lawyers and do not give legal advice. An attorney supervises every matter.
The first conversation is free. You tell us what happened, we tell you whether you have a case, and there is no obligation either way. For an injury that takes about 20 minutes: whether you likely have a claim, which deadlines apply and what comes next, or that you do not need us. In an injury case you pay no fee unless we recover money for you.
Dog bites
Springfield is a city of close neighborhoods, three-deckers and small yards, and a dog that gets out of one of them is one of the most common calls this office takes. Massachusetts holds a dog's owner or keeper strictly liable for the damage the dog does. There is no "one free bite," and you do not have to prove the owner was careless. The exceptions are narrow: a person who was trespassing, committing another wrong, or teasing, tormenting or abusing the dog. For a child under seven, the law presumes none of those things, and the burden falls on the owner to prove otherwise.
Two things people in Springfield hesitate over, and should not. First, the dog usually belongs to a neighbor, a relative or a friend, and the claim is almost always paid by the owner's homeowner's or renter's insurance, not by the person. Second, strict liability is not limited to bites. A large dog that knocks an elderly visitor down the porch steps or chases a child into Sumner Avenue traffic creates the same responsibility. Our dog bite page explains how these claims work, including what a facial scar on a child means for the claim.
Motorcycle accidents
Riders come through Springfield on I-91 and Route 20 all season, and the city's own streets produce the crash the firm sees most: a driver turning left across a rider who had the right of way. A motorcycle crash is handled differently from a car crash. Massachusetts excludes motorcyclists from no-fault personal injury protection, so there is no automatic medical coverage after a crash, and the claim runs against the driver who caused it from the start. A police report that blames the rider is not the end of the matter; the comparative-fault rule decides these cases, and riding without a helmet matters only for injuries a helmet would have prevented. Our motorcycle accident page covers the coverage gap and how we build these claims.
Car accidents in Springfield
I-91 runs the length of the city along the river, and I-291 ties it to the Mass Pike through the North End and Chicopee. Between them and the surface streets, Springfield produces more crashes than any other community in Hampden County, and most of this office's car cases start on a short list of roads: the X, where Sumner Avenue, Belmont Avenue and Dickinson Street meet in Forest Park; Boston Road, the Route 20 commercial strip through Pine Point and Sixteen Acres; Main Street through downtown and the South End; and the I-91 ramps at the downtown exits. The two hospitals that receive crash patients in the city are Baystate Medical Center on Chestnut Street and Mercy Medical Center on Carew Street, and the records from either are usually the first thing we request.
Massachusetts no-fault coverage pays your first medical bills and part of your lost wages whoever caused the crash, and the at-fault driver's insurer is where the injury itself is compensated. A crash involving a city vehicle, a PVTA bus or a state truck has its own notice rules with a shorter clock. Our car accident page explains how the no-fault system, the fault rules and the filing deadlines work in a claim like yours.
Not everyone hurt on these roads was in a car. Downtown crosswalks on Main Street and State Street, the bus stops along Sumner Avenue and the parking lots off Boston Road produce pedestrian cases every year, and a person on foot who is hit by a Massachusetts-insured vehicle has the same no-fault medical coverage through that vehicle's policy. Our hit while walking page explains how those claims work when the driver's insurer argues the pedestrian stepped out.
Truck accidents
The I-91 and I-291 corridor and the warehouses along the river carry tractor-trailers through the city all day, and a crash with a commercial truck is not a bigger car crash. The trucking company, its insurer and often a lawyer on retainer are involved from the first hours, the evidence lives in logbooks and onboard data that can be overwritten, and federal rules govern the driver and the equipment. Our truck accident page covers who can be responsible and why the investigation has to start immediately.
Slip and fall
Ice sits on Springfield walkways for a third of the year. A fall on an uncleared step, a broken sidewalk or an unlit stairwell can put someone in the hospital, and when a property owner's neglect caused it, we pursue the owner and the owner's insurer. Two rules catch people by surprise. A snow-and-ice claim carries a 30-day written notice requirement, and missing it hands the owner a defense. A fall on city property has its own notice requirement with a short clock. If you fell, call early. Our slip and fall page explains the notice rules and what a premises claim has to show.
Workers' compensation
Springfield's hospitals, nursing facilities, warehouses and distribution floors, and the trades that keep the city's housing stock standing employ people who get hurt at work every week. A workplace injury starts as a workers' compensation claim, which covers medical bills and part of your wages without regard to fault. It does not cover pain, a lost career or the difference between the life you had and the one you have now. If someone other than your employer caused the injury, such as a driver who hit you on your route, a subcontractor on a shared site or the maker of a machine that should have had a guard, a second claim may exist against them. That is the most commonly missed claim in work injuries, and we look for it in every case. Our workers' compensation page explains the benefits, the Department of Industrial Accidents process and the second case.
What to do after an accident
See a doctor the same day, even if you feel fine. Adrenaline hides injuries, and a gap in treatment lets an insurer argue the injury came from something else. Call the police, photograph the scene, and get the other driver's details and the names of witnesses before the scene is cleared. Notify your own insurer promptly. You do not have to give the other driver's insurer a recorded statement, and it is wise to talk to a lawyer before you do. Keep every bill, estimate and note of missed work. Our first 24 hours after a car accident guide walks through each step, and the free Massachusetts After-an-Accident Worksheet puts every step, from the scene to resolving the claim, in one PDF you can fill in or print.
Bring whatever you have to the office: the police report, your photos, the other driver's insurance information, witness names, your medical bills and repair estimates, and a note of any work you have missed. If you do not have all of it, come anyway. If an insurance adjuster has called, talk to us before you give a statement.
Last reviewed October 2026.
