If you or a loved one has suffered a serious injury in a car, truck or motorcycle accident in Hampton Roads, Virginia cities such as Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Chesapeake or Newport News, you will have enough to worry about in getting well and back to work and taking care of your family.  You don’t need additional hassles. 

 The goal of our Virginia Beach accidental injury attorneys at Cooper Hurley is to make the process of a car accident insurance claim as simple and efficient as possible for you, our client.  Our motto is, “Your injury, our fight.”

 Most people who get hurt in a serious car wreck have never been in that situation before.  They don’t want to have to worry about what they should or shouldn’t say to the insurance claims representative for the at-fault driver.  They don’t know exactly how they’re going to get their medical bills paid for.  One of the main reasons why you should hire a Virginia Beach, VA personal injury attorney after an automobile accident with injuries is to have someone looking out for your best interests so that you can focus on getting well. 

 We make the process easy and convenient for our clients at the time of signing them up to represent them in the case.  First we never charge for an initial consultation whether in person or on the phone.  In fact, we don’t get paid anything for our time unless and until we make a recovery from the insurance company for you.  Then we get paid as a percentage of what’s paid by the insurance company for the bad driver who hit you.

 We will come to you in the hospital or at your home wherever is most convenient for you.  If you prefer to come into our offices, we’re happy to meet with you at our Norfolk or Virginia Beach locations.  If you need a ride to come to see us, we will provide a ride for you. 

Our goal is to make life as easy as possible and take some of the sting out of the fact that someone has done you a wrong and that your life has been turned upside down.  Our goal at Cooper Hurley is always to get the best result possible under the circumstances while making the process as easy as we can for our personal injury clients.

 The Norfolk and Virginia Beach based personal injury law firm, Cooper Hurley, handles car, truck, and motorcycle injuries as well as brain injury, wrongful death, railroad workers’ injuries (FELA) mesothelioma and medical malpractice. John Cooper and Jim Hurley have over 40 years of combined experience in handling auto injury accident claims. Attorney John Cooper has been named to Virginia “Super Lawyers” since 2010 and has been a member since 2011 of the Multimillion-dollar Advocates Roundtable. Cooper Hurley represents people hurt in accidents in Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Portsmouth, Suffolk, Chesapeake, Hampton, Newport News and throughout VA, and always put the best interests of the our clients first. The firm is recognized by other lawyers as “AV” by Martindale-Hubbell, a national attorney rating service, for our top level of legal skill and highest ethical standards. If you need help or advice about a serious injury, please call us (757) 455 -0077. For a free consultation with a specialized Hampton Roads, Virginia personal injury lawyer contact us through this website

BODY – A man from Newport News, VA was arrested on Feb. 2, 2012 after police said he ran a red light, hit two other cars and seriously injured two young children in his car at an intersection in York County.

This heartbreaking accident reported in the Daily Press, occurred at the intersection of Route 134/Hampton Highway and Yorktown  Road in lower York County.

State police said a 2001 Chevy Malibu which was traveling south on Route 134 evidently ran a red light to make a left turn onto Yorktown Road. It struck a Chevrolet Sienna and a two-year-old child was ejected before it hit a stopped pickup truck.

The driver was charged with running a red light; reckless driving and failure to secure a child in a child restraint.

As an experienced car accident injury attorney who works with clients in Newport News, I am shocked by this accident. Although the full facts are not yet known it’s scary to imagine the event from the view of the two children in the back seat. This accident also raises questions about how adequately the infant was placed in an appropriate seat, or if something was wrong with the child seat.

Sadly all too often we see young people hurt and killed in cities such as Newport News, York County and Hampton, VA. Recently a 13-year-old was hurt crossing a road in nearby Poquoson.

As experienced  Virginia (VA) child injury lawyers, we are always sad to hear of  preventable wrecks when kids are in the back seat and we hope these two children will make a full recovery.

DM

The Norfolk and Virginia Beach based personal injury law firm, Cooper Hurley, handles car, truck, and motorcycle injuries as well as brain injury, wrongful death, railroad workers’ injuries (FELA) mesothelioma and medical malpractice. John Cooper and Jim Hurley have over 40 years of combined experience in handling auto injury accident claims. Attorney John Cooper has been named to Virginia “Super Lawyers” since 2010 and has been a member since 2011 of the Multimillion dollar Advocates Roundtable. Cooper Hurley represents people hurt in accidents in Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Portsmouth, Suffolk, Chesapeake, Hampton, Newport News and throughout VA, and always put the best interests of the our clients first. The firm is recognized by other lawyers as “AV” by Martindale-Hubbell, a national attorney rating service, for our top level of legal skill and highest ethical standards. If you need help or advice about a serious injury, please call us (757) 455 -0077. For a free consultation with a specialized Hampton Roads, Virginia personal injury lawyer contact us through this website

The vast number of lawsuits currently being brought over injuries caused by vaginal mesh products, raises new questions over a fast track approval process a which allows products to go onto the market with minimal testing.

Litigation moved forward on Jan. 26, 2012 when Derek H. Potts, a medical malpractice attorney, appeared at a hearing in Miami, FL that may plot the course of many transvaginal surgical mesh lawsuits being brought across the USA.

The hearing concerned motions that Potts and other lawyers filed in November, 2011 with the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML) representing women who say they suffered injuries after being implanted with vaginal mesh which is used for the treatment of stress urinary incontinence (SUI) and pelvic organ prolapse (POP).

The plaintiffs are asking the panel to create separate multidistrict litigation cases against three different manufacturers of mesh: American Medical Systems, Inc., Boston Scientific Corp. and Ethicon, Inc.

See this video about transvaginal mesh.

They say coordinating the actions will lead to more consistency. They are also asking that cases be transferred to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia.

As a Viginia Beach, VA medical malpractice attorney, I’m appalled at the scale of this apparent safety lapse in the regulatory system.
In October 2008, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a notice about transvaginal surgical mesh.

“Over the past three years, FDA has received over 1,000 reports from nine surgical mesh manufacturers of complications that were associated with surgical mesh devices used to repair POP and SUI. These mesh devices are usually placed transvaginally utilizing tools for minimally invasive placement,” the FDA said in a statement.

“The most frequent complications included erosion through vaginal epithelium, infection, pain, urinary problems, and recurrence of prolapse and/or incontinence. There were also reports of bowel, bladder, and blood vessel perforation during insertion. In some cases, vaginal scarring and mesh erosion led to a significant decrease in patient quality of life due to discomfort and pain, including dyspareunia.”

Ominously an update was issued in July, 2011 in which the FDA said “serious complications associated with surgical mesh,” are “not rare.”

But should the FDA share some of the blame? These vaginal mesh products were approved through the FDA’s controversial 510(k) fast-track approval process; the only requirement is that a product should be substantially equivalent to a device that has already been approved for sale. This approval process was also used for DePuy hip transplants – another device that had led to intense suffering for patients and many lawsuits.

Yet the 510 (k) regulator process is more than 35 years old and has come under fire for years. Surely it’s time to look again at a system that makes patients guinea pigs due to the lack of testing.

Recently the FDA sent out a letter to product makers calling for the new post-marketing studies on transvaginal mesh. This seems somewhat late in the day, although I would welcome it if eventually heralds the beginning of tighter regulations.
The mesh is used to treat pelvic organ prolapse, a common medical condition which occurs when organs drop and push against the walls of the vagina. Childbirth and surgery can cause the condition.

It’s a fairly common procedure. In 2010 alone, there were at least 100,000 surgeries that used surgical mesh implants.
Alarmingly the FDA is now saying the risk of using mesh implants is greater than other surgical options and there is no evidence of a greater clinical benefit.
This raises the fundamental and worrying question as to why these devices ever went on the market in the first place.
DM

The Norfolk and Virginia Beach based personal injury law firm, Cooper Hurley, handles car, truck, and motorcycle injuries as well as brain injury, wrongful death, railroad workers’ injuries (FELA) mesothelioma and medical malpractice. John Cooper and Jim Hurley have over 40 years of combined experience in handling auto injury accident claims. Attorney John Cooper has been named to Virginia “Super Lawyers” since 2010 and has been a member since 2011 of the Multimillion-dollar Advocates Roundtable. Cooper Hurley represents people hurt in accidents in Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Portsmouth, Suffolk, Chesapeake, Hampton, Newport News and throughout VA, and always put the best interests of the our clients first. The firm is recognized by other lawyers as “AV” by Martindale-Hubbell, a national attorney rating service, for our top level of legal skill and highest ethical standards. If you need help or advice about a serious injury, please call us (757) 455 -0077. For a free consultation with a specialized Hampton Roads, Virginia personal injury lawyer contact us through this website

My colleague John Cooper has written a new blog on the Virginia Beach Accident Attorneys site about the death of a scooter rider in Virginia Beach, VA. The scooter rider received fatal injuries in a crash with an SUV on Princess Anne Road.

DM

  The Norfolk and Virginia Beach based personal injury law firm, Cooper Hurley, handles car, truck, and motorcycle injuries as well as brain injury, wrongful death, railroad workers’ injuries (FELA) mesothelioma and medical malpractice. John Cooper and Jim Hurley have over 40 years of combined experience in handling auto injury accident claims. Attorney John Cooper has been named to Virginia “Super Lawyers” since 2010 and has been a member since 2011 of the Multimillion dollar Advocates Roundtable. Cooper Hurley represents people hurt in accidents in Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Portsmouth, Suffolk, Chesapeake, Hampton, Newport News and throughout VA, and always put the best interests of the our clients first. The firm is recognized by other lawyers as “AV” by Martindale-Hubbell, a national attorney rating service, for our top level of legal skill and highest ethical standards. If you need help or advice about a serious injury, please call us (757) 455 -0077. For a free consultation with a specialized Hampton Roads, Virginia personal injury lawyer contact us through this website

The Avvo rating system for attorneys is one of the newer and most influential tools for finding out how a lawyer ranks.

And John Cooper of Cooper Hurley, a law firm with offices in Norfolk and Virginia Beach, VA scores a perfect 10, giving him a superb rating.

The rating is based on experience, industry recognition and professional conduct.

The Avvo rating is important because it uses a mathematical system. According to Avvo’s website it’s an “effort to evaluate a lawyer’s background, based on the information we know about the lawyer.”

The rating is worked out using a mathematical model that takes into account the information shown in a lawyer’s profile, including years in practice, disciplinary history, professional achievements and industry.

“We periodically collect background data from multiple sources, including state bar associations, court records, lawyer websites, and information that lawyers choose to provide to Avvo,” the website states.

“We calculate the Avvo Rating based on background data we’ve collected on each lawyer. That data may come from various sources, including public records (such as the state bar associations, regulatory agencies, and court records), published sources on the Internet (including lawyers’ websites), and information that lawyers choose to supply to Avvo.

“This information is then considered and weighted by our mathematical model to arrive at a numerical rating from 1 – 10 or, if we only have licensing records for an attorney, a rating of “Attention” or “No Concern.” The Avvo Rating takes into account factors that we believe are relevant to an assessment of a lawyer’s qualifications, including the attorney’s experience, professional achievements, and disciplinary sanctions.”

 Here are the reasons Avvo gives for why its ratings can help clients find the best lawyers:

• It’s unbiased. Because ratings are calculated using a mathematical model, all lawyers are rated by the same standards.
• There’s no favoritism. All lawyers are treated equally. They can’t pay to change their ratings, and we don’t play favorites to lawyers we know.
• It’s developed by legal experts for non-experts. The model used to calculate the Avvo Rating was developed with input from hundreds of attorneys, thousands of consumers, and legal experts.
• It’s easy to understand. With simple ratings from 1 to 10 or “Attention” and “No Concern,” Avvo aims to make clearer the murky process of understanding lawyers’ backgrounds.

 But the Avvo rating isn’t the only consideration to use when choosing an attorney. It’s just one tool it’s an attempt to “provide a snapshot evaluation of the lawyer’s background.” , so as potential clients can compare the available background information of different lawyers.

“And of course, Avvo’s mathematical model has not met the lawyer in person. Because of this, our system can’t measure subjective factors like personality and communication style. Also, because we don’t believe there is yet an accurate way to score it, the Avvo Rating does not take into account a lawyer’s performance on particular cases or matters,” the Avvo website states.

But as an evaluation tool the Avvo rating is a highly respected benchmark within the legal profession.

The Norfolk and Virginia Beach based personal injury law firm, Cooper Hurley, handles car, truck, and motorcycle injuries as well as brain injury, wrongful death, railroad workers’ injuries (FELA) mesothelioma and medical malpractice. John Cooper and Jim Hurley have over 40 years of combined experience in handling auto injury accident claims. Attorney John Cooper has been named to Virginia “Super Lawyers” since 2010 and has been a member since 2011 of the Multimillion dollar Advocates Roundtable. Cooper Hurley represents people hurt in accidents in Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Portsmouth, Suffolk, Chesapeake, Hampton, Newport News and throughout VA, and always put the best interests of the our clients first. The firm is recognized by other lawyers as “AV” by Martindale-Hubbell, a national attorney rating service, for our top level of legal skill and highest ethical standards. If you need help or advice about a serious injury, please call us (757) 455 -0077. For a free consultation with a specialized Hampton Roads, Virginia personal injury lawyer contact us through this website

Six people were injured in a crash between a tractor-trailer and an Amtrak train in Michigan on the morning of Feb. 1.

The Amtrak train was heading from Pontiac to Chicago when it derailed in Jackson County, the Detroit News reported. It hit a tractor-trailer truck around 8:15 a.m. near Michigan Avenue and Portage Road in Leoni Township, according to police.

Six people were transported to a local hospital. According to reports none of the injuries were serious.

See this video about Amtrak derailments.

As an experienced Norfolk, VA railroad accident injury attorney, I’m concerned that yet another crash has taken place on a crossing, although I am relieved that none of the victims appear to have been seriously injured.

Crossings are potentially highly dangerous places in which trains come into contact with trucks and cars. Last year I wrote about an accident on a crossing in Goose Creek, South Carolina (SC) which was the 17^th at that crossing since the 1970s.

Cities such as Norfolk and Portsmouth, VA have numerous railroad crossings where cars and trucks come into close contact with trains. The arrival of the Tide light rail system in Norfolk, VA has increased the number of these locations.

While those injured in Michigan appear to have had a lucky escape, accidents involving trains and vehicles at crossings can be devastating.

In 2011, six people were killed in a crash in Reno, Nevada after a truck hit an Amtrak train on a railroad crossing. Lawsuits have since been filed against both the trucking company and Amtrak.

DM

The Norfolk and Virginia Beach based personal injury law firm, Cooper Hurley, handles car, truck, and motorcycle injuries as well as brain injury, wrongful death, railroad workers’ injuries (FELA) mesothelioma and medical malpractice. John Cooper and Jim Hurley have over 40 years of combined experience in handling auto injury accident claims. Attorney John Cooper has been named to Virginia “Super Lawyers” since 2010 and has been a member since 2011 of the Multimillion dollar Advocates Roundtable. Cooper Hurley represents people hurt in accidents in Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Portsmouth, Suffolk, Chesapeake, Hampton, Newport News and throughout VA, and always put the best interests of the our clients first. The firm is recognized by other lawyers as “AV” by Martindale-Hubbell, a national attorney rating service, for our top level of legal skill and highest ethical standards. If you need help or advice about a serious injury, please call us (757) 455 -0077. For a free consultation with a specialized Hampton Roads, Virginia personal injury lawyer contact us through this website

The accident scene was compared to “the end of the world,” and tragically it ended the lives of 10 people.

In one of the worst road crashes in the United States in recent years, a long line of cars and truck collided in fog and smoke on Interstate 75 south of Gainesville in Florida (FL).

The authorities are still trying to find the cause of this horrendous crash, Fox News reported.  It occurred on Jan, 29 when a  “mixture of fog and heavy smoke from a brush fire that may have been intentionally set,” caused poor visibility.

 At least five cars and six tractor-trailers were involved, and some caught fire during the wreck.

The series of accidents began half an hour after a 14-mile stretch of I-75 south of Gainesville was reopened early on the morning of Jan. 29, 2012. As well as the 10 people killed a hospital in Gainesville said it treated 22 people, eight of whom remain in hospital.

Given the complex series of events that unfolded in this accident, apportioning blame could be a lengthy procedure.

But an investigation will look closely at Florida Highway Patrol’s decision to reopen this highway 30 minutes before the crash, after a supervisor said it was clear.

The cause of the fire could also have a bearing on the blame question. “If arson comes up, we’ll look at charges at that time,” Keith Kameg, spokesman for the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, which is conducting the investigation, told the Chicago Tribune.

As Norfolk, VA based car accident injury and wrongful death attorneys, our thoughts are with the relatives who lost a loved one, and those left severely injured.

This horrendous accident is almost certainly going to lead to some wrongful death lawsuits down the line once the factors behind it become clearer.

DM

The Norfolk and Virginia Beach based personal injury law firm, Cooper Hurley, handles car, truck, and motorcycle injuries as well as brain injury, wrongful death, railroad workers’ injuries (FELA) mesothelioma and medical malpractice. John Cooper and Jim Hurley have over 40 years of combined experience in handling auto injury accident claims. Attorney John Cooper has been named to Virginia “Super Lawyers” since 2010 and has been a member since 2011 of the Multimillion dollar Advocates Roundtable. Cooper Hurley represents people hurt in accidents in Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Portsmouth, Suffolk, Chesapeake, Hampton, Newport News and throughout VA, and always put the best interests of the our clients first. The firm is recognized by other lawyers as “AV” by Martindale-Hubbell, a national attorney rating service, for our top level of legal skill and highest ethical standards. If you need help or advice about a serious injury, please call us (757) 455 -0077. For a free consultation with a specialized Hampton Roads, Virginia personal injury lawyer contact us through this website.

In Blacksburg, VA there was a horrible accident that involved a pregnant woman who was two weeks away from giving birth. The accident occurred as the woman was pulling onto North Main Street when her car collided with another vehicle coming down the street.

The pregnant woman had serious injuries and was speedily taken to Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital. Sadly, the woman’s injuries were so serious that she had to go into emergency labor. The surgeons had to surgically remove the newborn from the womb. The infant died two days later in the hospital.  The death of the infant raised suspicious on what caused his death.

Lieutenant Steve Taylor stated that the driver of the vehicle has not been charged and this investigation is ongoing as of the time of this writing.

I have helped numerous pregnant women hurt in car accidents in VA. It is always scary for them about the effects on the baby. Often there is no major harm to the infant after birth but the fear is always there. It is not recommended that some women drive while pregnant, especially around the end of the third trimester.

KW

The Norfolk and Virginia Beach based personal injury law firm, Cooper Hurley, handles car, truck, and motorcycle injuries as well as brain injury, wrongful death, railroad workers’ injuries (FELA) mesothelioma and medical malpractice. John Cooper and Jim Hurley have over 40 years of combined experience in handling auto injury accident claims. Attorney John Cooper has been named to Virginia “Super Lawyers” since 2010 and has been a member since 2011 of the Multimillion dollar Advocates Roundtable. Cooper Hurley represents people hurt in accidents in Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Portsmouth, Suffolk, Chesapeake, Hampton, Newport News and throughout VA, and always put the best interests of the our clients first. The firm is recognized by other lawyers as “AV” by Martindale-Hubbell, a national attorney rating service, for our top level of legal skill and highest ethical standards. If you need help or advice about a serious injury, please call us(757) 455 -0077. For a free consultation with a specialized Hampton Roads, Virginia personal injury lawyer contact us through this website

Is this what the Old Dominion has been reduced to so we can pave the roadways ? If Governor Bob the Lawyer gets his way we just might be there.

Governor Bob McDonnell presented new parts at the General Assembly in regards to his Transportation Plan. This plan has three parts and would cost a total of $4 billion dollars to complete.McDonnell also wants to increase contribution of .25 of the state sales tax to help Transportation. This increased contribution would be in effect for eight years.  In addition, he proposed that any money that the state has left over would go to transportation.

A main part that Governor McDonnell proposed was to sell the naming rights of bridges, highways and interchanges. With the revenue received from this, the maintenance costs for the named infrastructure would be covered.  The contract to name Virginia infrastructures would be on a yearly base.

Next, McDonnell wants to increase the competition in the Port of Virginia. To do this, he wants an increase in shipping related tax credits.

The VA Chapter of the Sierra Club is not big fans of McDonnell’s proposed plan. They feel as if McDonnell will be denying funds to focal functions of Virginia like education or health care.  Governor McDonnell expressed that, “without adequate transportation system, almost every aspect of daily lives and government are negatively impacted.”

I hope that with more maintenance on the roads, there will be less car accidents and car congestion. Can you imagine all of our highways with potholes and disappearing road marks because of lack of funding to fix these problems?

KW

The Norfolk and Virginia Beach based personal injury law firm, Cooper Hurley, handles car, truck, and motorcycle injuries as well as brain injury, wrongful death, railroad workers’ injuries (FELA) mesothelioma and medical malpractice. John Cooper and Jim Hurley have over 40 years of combined experience in handling auto injury accident claims. Attorney John Cooper has been named to Virginia “Super Lawyers” since 2010 and has been a member since 2011 of the Multimillion-dollar Advocates Roundtable. Cooper Hurley represents people hurt in accidents in Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Portsmouth, Suffolk, Chesapeake, Hampton, Newport News and throughout VA, and always put the best interests of the our clients first. The firm is recognized by other lawyers as “AV” by Martindale-Hubbell, a national attorney rating service, for our top level of legal skill and highest ethical standards. If you need help or advice about a serious injury, please call us (757) 455 -0077. For a free consultation with a specialized Hampton Roads, Virginia personal injury lawyer contact us through this website

There was a small child injured while crossing the intersection of Poquoson Avenue and Little Florida Road A car turning onto Little Florida Road hit Roger Livingston’s 13-year-old son. The driver claims that the son walked into the intersection and it was impossible for him to see the boy. The police released a statement saying the driver was not charged. The son suffered from a pelvic fracture.

After his injury, his father was enraged at the lack of security for pedestrians who cross every day.  The father, Roger Livingston urged Poquoson City Council to implement some new safety measures to improve the streets.

In the past, there have been more than five accidents near this intersection. Other people injured on this intersection include bicyclists, other cars and pedestrians.  The council discussed during the meeting that it would be a great decision to redesign the intersection. The challenge of redesigning is with trying to make it so all drivers can see the crosswalk from any angle and side that they are coming from.

In addition, another way to help this problem in Poquoson and Hampton Roads is to teach children where to cross and how to make sure that they are visible to the drivers

Drivers who are paying little or no attention to the roads sometimes hit pedestrians. These injuries can cause injuries that can last a lifetime. Roger Livingston’s son is suffering from a pelvic fracture; many of these accidents can cause more severe injuries. Even though the driver was not charged, many times it is the[ fault of the driver and you may have a case.]

As an experienced VA child injury lawyer , I know that drivers have a heightened duty to look out when children are at play or known to be in the area. If a car operator sees that kids are about the street they must slow down or be more careful. Little kids will sometimes make a mistake and go in the road though they should not have. Kids are not always held responsible as they do not know as much as an adult driver about the risks.

KW

The Norfolk and Virginia Beach based personal injury law firm, Cooper Hurley, handles car, truck, and motorcycle injuries as well as brain injury, wrongful death, railroad workers’ injuries (FELA) mesothelioma and medical malpractice. John Cooper and Jim Hurley have over 40 years of combined experience in handling auto injury accident claims. Attorney John Cooper has been named to Virginia “Super Lawyers” since 2010 and has been a member since 2011 of the Multimillion dollar Advocates Roundtable. Cooper Hurley represents people hurt in accidents in Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Portsmouth, Suffolk, Chesapeake, Hampton, Newport News and throughout VA, and always put the best interests of the our clients first. The firm is recognized by other lawyers as “AV” by Martindale-Hubbell, a national attorney rating service, for our top level of legal skill and highest ethical standards. If you need help or advice about a serious injury, please call us (757) 455 -0077. For a free consultation with a specialized Hampton Roads, Virginia personal injury lawyer contact us through this website