- John Cooper | April 30, 2007 12:22 PM |
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Automobile AccidentsUnfortunately, there is a relationship between the field of personal injury law and the field of bankruptcy law. At my law firm, Hajek, Shapiro, Cooper, Lewis, and Appleton, "all we do is personal injury law"; however, I have had to learn over 18 years in injury practice about the relationship of bankruptcy to what I do representing injured people. One of the main reasons that people end up in...
- John Cooper | April 29, 2007 12:28 PM |
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Medical MalpracticeAs a law firm handling medical malpractice cases in Virginia (VA), North Carolina (NC) and in other states, we spend a lot of time on the phone talking to potential clients about their claims of medical error by doctors and hospitals. Many of these client calls are heartbreaking to hear about loved ones who were severely hurt by the mistakes of a health care provider. However, many of the...
- John Cooper | April 28, 2007 12:10 PM |
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MiscellaneousI have been doing personal injury law for 18 years from Virginia Beach, Virginia (VA) and I really enjoy what I do. First, I really believe that I am wearing the white hat in doing good work on a worthy cause because I represent only plaintiffs in personal injury cases. I do not think that the insurance defense lawyers are bad people, but I could never do that side of personal injury...
- John Cooper | April 27, 2007 9:39 AM |
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Automobile AccidentsI have been working in the area of personal injury law nearly all the time for 18 years. During that time, I have learned lots of specific rules that are hidden in the statutes and case law pertaining to automobile wreck and other injury cases. Now, after having done injury work for so long, I feel that I know probably 97% of the rules applicable to handling personal injury cases and trying them...
- John Cooper | April 26, 2007 9:20 AM |
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MiscellaneousChoosing a personal injury lawyer for an automobile accident case has become somewhat easier with the use of the internet. You can now click on various firms' web sites using Google or other methods. Obviously, I hope that you choose to let me and my firm represent you after a car wreck with injuries. I hope to attract your interest in hiring me through this blog and our law firm's web site at...
- John Cooper | April 25, 2007 9:02 AM |
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Medical MalpracticeThere are some circumstances where the law limits your rights or will not allow you to sue a doctor or hospital worker who has committed medical malpractice on you no matter how bad the medical error is. For example, if you wanted to make a claim against the staff at Portsmouth Naval Hospital in Portsmouth, Virginia (VA), yourinjury attorney will need to look carefully at the question of...
- John Cooper | April 21, 2007 3:38 PM |
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Automobile AccidentsThe Virginia (VA) law related to injuries to minors is different than when adults get injured. Some special issues arise in the sad situation of serious injury to a child in Virginia (VA). One of the issues when a kid gets hurt by someone else's negligence is who is the client of the personal injury lawyer. The client is typically a parent who acts as representative for the child in hiring the...
- John Cooper | April 20, 2007 11:27 AM |
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Automobile AccidentsThe SUV that the governor was in was run into by another vehicle who was trying to avoid a collision. Unfortunately, it appears the governor was not wearing his seat belt and his vehicle may have been speeding. This automobile accident involving an important government official puts the spotlight on how all of us are vulnerable to being severely hurt on the road.The governor is going to have leg...
- John Cooper | April 19, 2007 2:02 PM |
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MiscellaneousThe Norfolk/Portsmouth Bar Association is a voluntary group of attorneys in Virginia who practice in that geographical area. Even though our law firm is located in Virginia Beach, we stay very active with the Norfolk and Portsmouth Bar. Part of the reason is that the Cities of Norfolk and Portsmouth, Virginia, are some of the main places where we practice law. Generally, Norfolk, Virginia, and...
- John Cooper | April 18, 2007 4:35 PM |
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Automobile AccidentsInsurance companies make their money by taking in premium dollars and paying out as little as they can get away with. That basic equation is why insurance companies do what they do. As a personal injury lawyer, it always amazes me to see the huge number of dollars wasted by insurance companies on television advertisement. We all know Geico's gecko, Geico's green lizard commercials, Nationwide...
- John Cooper | April 16, 2007 4:35 PM |
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Medical MalpracticeIn one of the largest medical malpractice verdicts in U.S. history, a Florida (FL) jury awarded over $200 million to a man who was left brain injured and disabled after emergency room personnel misdiagnosed a stroke as a headache. Ironically, shortly after this malpractice occurred, the Florida (FL) legislature changed their law to impose caps on medical malpractice cases, which would have...
- John Cooper | April 12, 2007 4:21 PM |
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Automobile AccidentsUnder the terms of most health insurance policies, and in accordance with the law of many states, if you are injured as a result of the negligence of someone else and sustained serious personal injury, your health insurance company is required to pay for the medical care that is needed to treat your serious personal injuries. This is true whether you sustain serious personal injuries as a...
- John Cooper | April 10, 2007 4:21 PM |
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Automobile AccidentsThere are ethics rules that apply in Virginia (VA) that say you cannot hold yourself out as a personal injury specialist no matter how specialized you are in personal injury law. In Virginia (VA), there are no recognized specialties in any field of law, including representing injured people. The state could develop a system of certified specialties so that a lawyer who has been practicing in a...
- John Cooper | April 09, 2007 9:33 AM |
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MiscellaneousRecent research has looked at the human brain's ability to multi-task like driving and talking on the cell phone at the same time. The conclusion is that people are not as efficient as they think at being able to concentrate on two things at once. Car crashes and serious personal injury may be the result of driver distractions like cell phones. The researchers found that there was a delay of...
- John Cooper | April 05, 2007 2:40 PM |
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MiscellaneousWe at Hajek, Shapiro, Cooper, Lewis & Appleton get many of our clients from the surrounding rural communities. This includes the areas of northeast North Carolina (NC) from Roanoke Rapids and Rocky Mount east to Camden and Currituck counties. In Virginia (VA) , we also get clients from South Hill and Emporia and west through the counties in southeastern Virginia (VA) from Petersburg to...
- John Cooper | April 04, 2007 4:12 PM |
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Automobile AccidentsAs a personal injury lawyer, it is important to use the AMA guides to permanent partial impairment to your client's advantage. AMA is the American Medical Association, which is the primary national professional group for doctors. They publish and periodically revise a book that sets forth how to quantify permanent partial impairments of various parts of the body after an injury. Most...
- John Cooper | April 03, 2007 12:04 PM |
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Automobile AccidentsIn 18 years of practicing injury law, it has never stopped amazing me how insurance companies and corporate defendants will "lose" or outright destroy important evidence about a personal injury accident. It is often hard to prove that this loss of documents in a personal injury case was intentional. However, with big dollars on the line in a serious injury case, some corporate managers forget...