- John Cooper | May 30, 2007 3:37 PM |
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MiscellaneousAt this time of year in Norfolk/Virginia Beach, Virginia (VA) and across Hampton Roads, in Newport News, Williamsburg, Suffolk, Portsmouth, and Chesapeake, Virginia (VA) people are getting their pools ready for the summer months. Pool safety is key.At this time of year in Norfolk/Virginia Beach, Virginia (VA) and across Hampton Roads, in Newport News, Williamsburg, Suffolk, Portsmouth, and...
- John Cooper | May 29, 2007 11:25 AM |
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MiscellaneousAs a Virginia (VA) attorney handling injury cases like automobile accidents for about 18 years, I have come to recognize preparation as the key to success in handling serious injury cases in Hampton Roads, Virginia (VA) or in any court. The best attorneys prepare their cases better than the insurance defense lawyers who they go up against. The lawyer can't control what the facts are in a car...
- John Cooper | May 26, 2007 9:57 AM |
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Medical MalpracticeOne of the main kinds of medical malpractice cases are for injuries or wrongful death that occurs as a result of a doctor making a mistake in diagnosis of the patient. Our law firm handles medical malpractice lawsuits in Virginia (VA), North Carolina (NC), and elsewhere. So, I bought a new book called How Doctors Think hoping it would help the attorneys I work with continue to be among the best...
- John Cooper | May 25, 2007 9:32 AM |
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MiscellaneousA Virginia (VA) or North Carolina (NC) injury case involving a surgery is worth more money than a case without a surgery. In some ways this makes sense in that an injury which is serious enough to require a surgery likely involves pain and suffering greater than one where the doctor did not see the need to send the patient to a surgeon. In an automobile accident lawsuit, the insurance company...
- John Cooper | May 24, 2007 1:45 PM |
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MiscellaneousThe lawyers in our firm are often retained as personal injury counsel to represent people from outside of Hampton Roads, Virginia (VA) who are visiting here as tourists and unfortunately get hurt. Virginia Beach, Virginia (VA) and other parts of our area in eastern Virginia (VA) and north east North Carolina (NC) are big tourist destinations. Our area boasts tourist spots that attract visitors...
- John Cooper | May 23, 2007 3:30 PM |
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MiscellaneousI was born to blog. I have only recently come to this realization. As the editor of the Norfolk and Portsmouth, Virginia (VA) Injuryboard blog website for the past year I have had a great time blogging about personal injury subjects.My law firm Hajek, Shapiro, Cooper, Lewis, and Appleton based in Virginia Beach, Virginia (VA) has handled automobile accident and FELA cases for many years. ...
- John Cooper | May 22, 2007 2:44 PM |
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MiscellaneousAn attorney handling a wrongful death case in Virginia (VA) must consider both the economic and emotional losses associated with the client's family member's death. Under Virginia law the family of a person who was killed by the negligence of another is potentially entitled to damages set forth on a list in the Code of Virginia (VA). Generally, these damages for wrongful death fall into two...
- John Cooper | May 19, 2007 3:48 PM |
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Automobile AccidentsIn the Virginian Pilot on Sunday, May 13, 2007, there was a piece that a 22 year old motorcyclist was killed in a wreck. The accident happened in Norfolk, Virginia (VA) on Saturday and the young man died in a local hospital the next day. The driver that hit the motorcyclist has not been charged and the cause has not been determined.Our firm, Hajek, Shapiro, Cooper, Lewis & Appleton, P.C.,...
- John Cooper | May 18, 2007 10:19 AM |
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Automobile AccidentsI have been practicing law in Virginia Beach and Norfolk, Virginia (VA) for about two decades focusing on accidental injury and wrongful death cases. I have heard amazing stories about how million dollar automobile accident cases have gone to lawyers who really had no business handling such a case for all sorts of strange reasons. The suggestions for a person with an accident case in...
- John Cooper | May 17, 2007 4:21 PM |
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MiscellaneousAs a Virginian specializing in personal injury and wrongful death cases, I read the newspapers carefully, especially my local paper, the Virginian Pilot published in Norfolk, Virginia (VA). Each morning I am on the lookout to see what legal news there is particularly as it relates to personal injury practice in Virginia (VA). I have been amazed that there hasn't been any indication of law...
- John Cooper | May 16, 2007 3:19 PM |
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MiscellaneousI have lived in Norfolk, Virginia (VA) since I came back from law school at the University of Virginia 18 years ago. Norfolk, Virginia (VA), where I was born and raised, has really been on the upswing lately and is now a really great city to live in. Although the population of the city of Norfolk, Virginia (VA) proper has shrunk a bit to 241,000 people, there is a trend for people moving back...
- John Cooper | May 15, 2007 2:57 PM |
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Mass Transit (Airline, Cruise Ship, Train, Bus)I live in Norfolk, Virginia (VA), the home of Norfolk Southern Railroad. I have been doing automobile accident injury cases in Norfolk and Virginia Beach, Virginia (VA) for about a decade before I joined my current firm of Hajek, Shapiro, Cooper, Lewis, and Appleton, PC. That was in 1997 and since that time I have been doing train wreck and FELA cases for railroad workers who get hurt on the...
- John Cooper | May 14, 2007 3:18 PM |
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Mass Transit (Airline, Cruise Ship, Train, Bus)Until the 1980's and 1990's, the major U.S. freight railroads routinely had train crews getting on and off moving railcars.At different times they used this dangerous practice at CSX and Norfolk Southern and the predecessor railroads like Conrail. Even after the railroad made a new rule saying it was dangerous to get off and on moving equipment, it took awhile for the practice to stop...
- John Cooper | May 13, 2007 5:00 PM |
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Automobile AccidentsI have taken calls from injured people in Virginia (VA) for over two decades. So, it's not hard for me to imagine what is on the mind of a person who has just been a car wreck and has been hurt as a result of someone else's fault. It's a situation that I help people with everyday. Here are some answers to questions commonly asked in this situation:1. What should I do about medical...
- John Cooper | May 12, 2007 4:27 PM |
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Automobile AccidentsThe damages that you can collect for in a car wreck case in Virginia (VA) are set forth in the Virginia (VA) Model Jury Instructions, number nine. The Virginia (VA) Model Jury Instructions are a list of the law that the judge would read to the jury before they deliberate at the end of a personal injury case in a Virginia (VA) Circuit Court. North Carolina (NC) and other states have their own...
- John Cooper | May 11, 2007 2:36 PM |
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Tractor-Trailer AccidentsAs an injury attorney, I pay attention to the numbers of accidents reported by the government. United States Department of Transportation issued a report that in 2002 there were over 4,500 tractor trailers involved in fatal collisions. Over 5,000 people died in these truck wrecks. The study put out by the USDOT and the federal motor carrier safety administration indicated that most tractor...
- John Cooper | May 11, 2007 12:52 PM |
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Automobile AccidentsOur firm uses the slogan "All we do is injury law" to summarize what our firm's focus is. However, there are really many types of cases within personal injury law. As a Virginia (VA) personal injury attorney, it always amazes me that clients may not fully understand what areas of law we practice in when we say we do injury law. I have had a client indicate that he didn't contact me about the...
- John Cooper | May 10, 2007 9:01 AM |
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Automobile AccidentsThere are three components of a good vehicle collision case, namely 1) liability, 2) damages and 3) insurance. You need to have all three of these elements in order for you to have a car wreck injury claim that I can help you with. If any of these elements is missing, I may be forced to decline the case because it isn't one that I would be successful at getting you compensation for.Liability...
- John Cooper | May 08, 2007 3:36 PM |
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MiscellaneousAlthough I have always recommended clients hire a personal injury as soon as possible after an injury, the reasons for fast action are especially true in significant trucking wreck cases. The insurance company for the trucker will be out on the scene immediately collecting evidence and documenting whatever they can to assist their side of the case. To level the playing field with the truckers'...
- John Cooper | May 07, 2007 3:01 PM |
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Automobile AccidentsA well written letter to the editor in a recent Virginia Pilot talked about the loss of young lives in the context of the recent Virginia Tech tragedy.No words can comfort a parent who has lost a child. That is probably one of the hardest and most unnatural types of grief in the world. The author noted that the leading cause of death in young people around the world is traffic injuries. In the...
- John Cooper | May 05, 2007 2:28 PM |
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Automobile AccidentsI read in a recent news clip where eighteen people were injured when a car collided with a bus. One of injuries was critical. This happened in New York. However it could have been any town in the U.S including in Virginia or North Carolina. Car wrecks involving buses are not infrequent. Sometimes the bus involved in a motor vehicle accident is a school bus. The problem is that there are no...
- John Cooper | May 04, 2007 8:51 AM |
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Automobile AccidentsI just met with an expert witness in a railroad crossing case (truck hit by train) whose field is vision and human factors. This lady, Ellie Francis, has two PhDs in these areas. She is an incredibly high powered expert in these subjects which are central to what happens during vehicular accidents like the one I am working on where a train hits a truck, killing its occupant.What this vision and...
- John Cooper | May 03, 2007 1:59 PM |
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Head & Brain InjuriesA recent medical study of professional football players has showed that brain injury is a more significant problem, than thought. However, brain injury has probably been ignored or down played in the NFL and the medical community for a long time. Because brain injury is not always as obvious as some kind of a broken bone, it is easier to forget about or treat the injury as less than a real...
- John Cooper | May 02, 2007 2:45 PM |
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Medical MalpracticeRecently, a gastric bypass medical error/wrongful death case was settled for over $800,000.00 on the morning of jury trial in Norfolk, Virginia (VA). The case in the Norfolk Circuit Court involved a 28 year old single mother who had an 8 year old handicapped child. After trying to diet and exercise to lose weight, she agreed to undergo a laparoscopic gastric bypass surgery. After the...