# Sexual Abuse Lawyer - Springfield & Westfield, MA | Dunn & Phillips, P.C. > Springfield sexual assault and abuse lawyers. A civil claim is separate from any criminal case and can reach the institution that allowed the harm. Free, confidential consultation; pay nothing unless we win. [Canonical page](https://www.dunnandphillips.com/practice/personal-injury/sexual-assault/) --- - [All injury cases](https://www.dunnandphillips.com/practice/personal-injury/) - [Car Accidents](https://www.dunnandphillips.com/practice/personal-injury/car-accidents/) - [Truck Accidents](https://www.dunnandphillips.com/practice/personal-injury/truck-accidents/) - [Motorcycle Accidents](https://www.dunnandphillips.com/practice/personal-injury/motorcycle-accidents/) - [Slip and Fall](https://www.dunnandphillips.com/practice/personal-injury/slip-and-fall/) - [Dog Bites](https://www.dunnandphillips.com/practice/personal-injury/dog-bites/) - [Workers' Compensation](https://www.dunnandphillips.com/practice/personal-injury/workers-compensation/) - [Medical Malpractice](https://www.dunnandphillips.com/practice/personal-injury/medical-malpractice/) - [Wrongful Death](https://www.dunnandphillips.com/practice/personal-injury/wrongful-death/) - [Bicycle Accidents](https://www.dunnandphillips.com/practice/personal-injury/bicycle-accidents/) - [Pedestrian Accidents](https://www.dunnandphillips.com/practice/personal-injury/pedestrian-accidents/) - [Catastrophic Injury](https://www.dunnandphillips.com/practice/personal-injury/catastrophic-injury/) - [Insurance Claim Disputes](https://www.dunnandphillips.com/practice/personal-injury/insurance-claim-disputes/) - [Pain and Suffering](https://www.dunnandphillips.com/practice/personal-injury/pain-and-suffering/) - [Sexual Assault & Abuse](https://www.dunnandphillips.com/practice/personal-injury/sexual-assault/) - [How We Help](https://www.dunnandphillips.com/practice/) - [Personal Injury](https://www.dunnandphillips.com/practice/personal-injury/) - Sexual Assault & Abuse # Sexual Assault and Abuse Lawyers in Western Massachusetts A civil claim is yours to bring, on your terms, whether or not there was ever a criminal case. The first conversation is free and confidential, and nothing happens that you do not decide to do. [New injury? Call or text (413) 426-8657](tel:+14134268657) Have the firm call you Free. A real person calls you back. Phone That phone number looks too short. Please check it so we can call you back. What happened? (one line is fine) Have the firm call me Short version is fine — save the details for the call. Please do not send confidential information: until we sign a written engagement agreement, what you send here is not treated as confidential and does not by itself prevent us from representing someone else in the same matter. Sending this does not make us your lawyers yet. Something went wrong. Please call or text the 24-hour injury line at [(413) 426-8657](tel:+14134268657) instead. Thanks. We have it. A real person will call you back. If this is urgent, call or text [(413) 426-8657](tel:+14134268657). You decide whether to make a claim, when, and how far it goes. If you are reading this to find out what your options are, that is a reasonable thing to do and it costs nothing: the first conversation is free, it is confidential, and it does not commit you to anything. We represent survivors across Western Massachusetts from our offices in [Springfield](https://www.dunnandphillips.com/locations/springfield/) and [Westfield](https://www.dunnandphillips.com/locations/westfield/). You can reach us at [(413) 426-8657](tel:+14134268657). If you would rather write than talk, the form on this page reaches the same people. ## A civil case is not a criminal case These are two separate things, and confusing them stops people from getting help. A **criminal case** is brought by the Commonwealth against the person who committed the assault. You are a witness in it, not a party. You do not control whether it is charged, what it is charged as, or whether it is dismissed. The standard of proof is the highest the law uses. A **civil case** is yours. You bring it, you direct it, and you can end it. It asks for money rather than a conviction, and it is decided on a lower standard of proof than a criminal charge. That difference matters in practice: a case that was never charged, or was charged and did not result in a conviction, can still be a civil claim. **You do not need to have reported to the police to talk to us,** and you do not need to have decided whether you ever will. ## The claim often reaches further than the person who did it The individual is not always the only party responsible, and often not the one who can actually pay. Where the harm happened inside an institution — a school, a youth program, a workplace, a care facility, a place of worship, a landlord's building — the question becomes what that institution knew, what it did, and what it failed to do. That is ordinary negligence law applied to facts people do not usually think of in those terms: prior complaints that went nowhere, a person kept in a role after a warning, supervision that existed on paper, a door or a hiring process that should have stopped this. Those cases are built from records, and records are what we go after. ## Time limits Deadlines for these claims are not the same as the deadlines in an ordinary injury case, and they are not the same for every survivor or every defendant. Abuse that happened years ago is not automatically out of time. **Do not decide you are too late on your own.** Tell us roughly when it happened and who was involved, and we will tell you where you actually stand. That answer is free and it is often not the one people expect. ## What working with us looks like - **You set the pace.** No one from this office will contact anyone, file anything, or take a step you have not agreed to. - **You are not required to tell the whole story to start.** Enough to know whether there is a claim is enough. Everything else can wait, or come out in pieces, or come from records instead of from you. - **Confidentiality is the point, not a formality.** Ask us at the first call what is protected and what is not, including how a claim would be filed and what becomes public. You should have that answer before you decide anything. - **Nothing up front.** Our fee is a percentage of the recovery, set in a written agreement before we begin. We front the case costs. If there is no recovery you owe no fee and no costs. ## If you are in immediate danger Call 911. For confidential support at any hour, independent of any legal decision, the National Sexual Assault Hotline is [(800) 656-4673](tel:+18006564673). Talking to an advocate does not start a legal case and does not obligate you to anything here. New Personal Injury Direct A new injury intake reaches a real person 24 hours a day. Call or text, or start with the intake form and we will get back to you. [Call or text (413) 426-8657](tel:+14134268657) [Start the injury intake form](https://www.dunnandphillips.com/practice/personal-injury/#start-your-case) Where we are Springfield, Main Office 185 Belmont Avenue, Springfield, MA 01108 [(413) 787-9955](tel:+14137879955) [Get directions](https://www.google.com/maps/search/?api=1&query=185%20Belmont%20Avenue%2C%20Springfield%2C%20MA%2001108) Westfield, Personal Injury Law Center 56 Washington Street, Westfield, MA 01085 [(413) 562-8300](tel:+14135628300) [Get directions](https://www.google.com/maps/search/?api=1&query=56%20Washington%20Street%2C%20Westfield%2C%20MA%2001085) Other injury case types we handle - [Car Accidents](https://www.dunnandphillips.com/practice/personal-injury/car-accidents/) - [Truck Accidents](https://www.dunnandphillips.com/practice/personal-injury/truck-accidents/) - [Motorcycle Accidents](https://www.dunnandphillips.com/practice/personal-injury/motorcycle-accidents/) - [Slip and Fall](https://www.dunnandphillips.com/practice/personal-injury/slip-and-fall/) - [Dog Bites](https://www.dunnandphillips.com/practice/personal-injury/dog-bites/) - [Workers' Compensation](https://www.dunnandphillips.com/practice/personal-injury/workers-compensation/) - [Medical Malpractice](https://www.dunnandphillips.com/practice/personal-injury/medical-malpractice/) - [Wrongful Death](https://www.dunnandphillips.com/practice/personal-injury/wrongful-death/) - [Bicycle Accidents](https://www.dunnandphillips.com/practice/personal-injury/bicycle-accidents/) - [Pedestrian Accidents](https://www.dunnandphillips.com/practice/personal-injury/pedestrian-accidents/) - [Catastrophic Injury](https://www.dunnandphillips.com/practice/personal-injury/catastrophic-injury/) - [Insurance Claim Disputes](https://www.dunnandphillips.com/practice/personal-injury/insurance-claim-disputes/) - [Pain and Suffering](https://www.dunnandphillips.com/practice/personal-injury/pain-and-suffering/) Still not sure what you have? Answer a few questions and let's assess your situation. No long forms, and it costs nothing. [Let's assess your situation](https://www.dunnandphillips.com/consult/) **“Pay nothing unless we win” applies to personal injury matters only.** If we win, our fee is a percentage of the amount recovered and is paid out of that settlement or verdict, along with case costs; if there is no recovery, you owe no fee or costs. The percentage and terms are set out in a signed written fee agreement. This promise does not apply to our other practice areas, whose fees are charged as described in your fee agreement. This page is general information only, not legal advice for any specific situation, and reading it does not create an attorney–client relationship. Every matter depends on its own facts; for advice on your particular circumstances, talk to a licensed attorney. Published by Dunn & Phillips, P.C., 185 Belmont Avenue, Springfield, MA 01108. Responsible attorney: Cornelius W. Phillips, III. Explore more [Practice areaPersonal injury at Dunn & PhillipsEvery injury case type we handle, and the team that handles them.](https://www.dunnandphillips.com/practice/personal-injury/)[Free worksheetsMassachusetts legal worksheetsFillable PDFs, including the after-an-accident worksheet.](https://www.dunnandphillips.com/worksheets/)[Talk to usRequest a consultationFree, confidential, and without obligation.](https://www.dunnandphillips.com/contact/)