The firm
Messa Law, a New Jersey Sexual Abuse Law Firm
Messa Law represents survivors of sexual abuse throughout New Jersey, from an office at 2000 Academy Dr. in Mount Laurel. The work is taken on a contingency basis, which means there is no fee unless a claim succeeds, and no cost at all to asking whether you have one.
Free, confidential, and no obligation. You decide what happens next, and you can stop at any point.
What the firm does
Messa Law acts for people who were sexually abused, in civil claims against the person responsible and against the organization that allowed it to happen. Most of the work is the second part, because most of these cases involve an institution that had duties of its own and did not meet them.
That means schools and school districts, churches and religious orders, childcare centers, hospitals and medical practices, youth organizations and sports clubs, foster care and group homes, and state agencies. Each of them keeps records, follows written policies, and employs people who noticed things and sometimes wrote them down. A claim is largely the work of getting to that material.
How a first conversation works
- You speak to Joe Messa. Not an intake screener and not a call center. The call is free and confidential.
- You say as much or as little as you want. You will not be asked to prove anything, and you can stop at any point.
- You get a straight answer, including when the answer is that there is no claim here. If there is one, he explains what bringing it would actually involve.
- You decide. Nothing happens unless you say so.
What the firm will not do
Worth saying, because the category has a reputation and some of it is earned.
- No pressure to sign anything on a first call. Deciding to bring a claim about being abused is not a decision to make inside ten minutes.
- No promises about outcomes. Nobody can tell you what a claim is worth before knowing its facts, and anyone who does is guessing.
- No naming of people who have not been convicted. This site does not publish accusations against identifiable individuals.
- No countdown clocks and no urgency tactics. Deadlines are real and they are explained honestly, which is a different thing from being used as pressure.
Contingency, in plain terms
You pay nothing up front. If a claim succeeds, the fee is a share of the recovery, agreed in writing before anything is filed. If it does not succeed, there is no fee. The reason abuse claims are handled this way is straightforward: almost nobody could otherwise afford to bring one against an institution with insurance and a legal department.
Contact
Call (848) 290-7929, or send a message and ask for a call back at a time that suits you. Both are free and confidential, and neither creates an attorney client relationship.
Questions people ask
Where is the office?
2000 Academy Dr., Suite 200, Mount Laurel, NJ 08054, in Burlington County. Cases are taken across New Jersey, and a first conversation happens by phone wherever you are, so there is no need to travel to talk to someone.
What does it cost?
Nothing to ask, and nothing unless a claim succeeds. Abuse claims are handled on a contingency basis, so the fee comes out of a recovery rather than out of your pocket, and there is no recovery to take a fee from unless the claim works.
Do you only take cases in South Jersey?
No. The office is in Burlington County, and cases are taken statewide, including Newark, Jersey City, Trenton and the shore counties.
Will I be passed to someone else after the first call?
No. Joe Messa handles the first conversation and stays with the matter. You will not be asked to repeat your account to a series of different people, which is a specific complaint survivors raise about larger intake operations.
Is what I say confidential even if I never become a client?
Yes. What you say in a first conversation is confidential whether or not anything comes of it, and nothing becomes public because you asked a question.