John M. Cooper is one of the founding partners at Cooper Hurley Injury Lawyers and a veteran of Virginia personal injury law practice. A native Virginian, he was raised in Norfolk and Virginia Beach by parents who practiced law. After graduating from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1988, John returned home to work for a federal judge in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, Norfolk Division, which launched his passion for and career in personal injury law.
For over 30 years, John has worked closely with injured victims and their families and knows the long-term and devastating consequences that auto accidents, railroad accidents, traumatic brain injuries, and wrongful deaths can have. John also understands that catastrophic cases are complex and require extensive time, skill, and resources to properly litigate in court. This knowledge and experience has helped him to become a highly effective, results-oriented litigation attorney who has won millions and millions of dollars in verdicts and settlements for his clients.
In 2020, John and his team obtained the largest reported recovery in Virginia that year, $6.5 Million, for a single car accident plaintiff who become quadriplegic after his accident. John’s other recent results include a $5.8 Million settlement for a traumatic brain injury victim and a $4,725,000 settlement for an auto accident victim who suffered vision impairment and multiple fractures.
John’s strong record has earned him numerous honors, including a Top Lawyer designation by Coastal Virginia Magazine, a VA “Super Lawyer” designation, and an AV Rating by Martindale-Hubbell for his reputation in the practice of law. He is also rated 10 out of 10 by Avvo and is ranked among the top 100 trial lawyers in Virginia. John served for a decade on the Virginia Trial Lawyers Association Board of Governors and served as Chair of the FELA Litigation Group of the American Association for Justice from 2011 to 2017.
- University of Virginia School of Law
- J.D. (1988) | Law
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- University of California - Berkeley
- B.A. (1985) | Anthropology
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- Honors: Phi Beta Kappa (academic honor society)
- Founding Partner
- Cooper Hurley Injury Lawyers
- - Current
- Managing Partner in charge of injury and accident litigation, specializing in catastrophic cases such as wrongful death, traumatic brain injuries and railroad disasters. Focuses in FELA (railroad worker injuries), tractor trailer wrecks, and motorcycle crashes.
- Partner
- Shapiro, Cooper, Lewis & Appleton, P.C.
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- Partner handling exclusively plaintiff's personal injury work in firm concentrating in F.E.L.A. cases; emphasis in railroad injury law, as well as automobile, products liability, and medical malpractice injury practice; strong trial experience, particularly multi-state litigation.
- Personal Injury Attorney
- Kalfus & Nachman, P.C.
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- Personal injury attorney in high volume plaintiff practice; responsible for large set of automobile, premises liability and medical malpractice cases.
- Senior Litigation Associate
- Croshaw, Beale, Hauser & Lewis, P.C.
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- emphasizing plaintiff's personal injury practice with substantial courtroom experience in medical malpractice, personal injury, commercial litigation, and criminal law.
- Law clerk
- United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, Norfolk Divsion
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- Law clerk to the Honorable Rebecca Beach Smith (currently senior federal judge in the Eastern District of Virginia, Norfolk Division), drafting memoranda, opinions, and orders in civil and criminal cases
- The Traumatic Brain Injury Toolkit: Everything a Client Needs to Know After Suffering a Traumatic Brain Injury
- Cooper Hurley Injury Lawyers
- Working With a Ton of Information In Your Virginia Injury Practice, Virginia Trial Lawyers Association Advanced Auto Retreat
- Virginia Trial Lawyers Association
- Traumatic Brain Injuries Made Simple
- National Business Institute
- Co-authored and presented paper.
- Doctors, Depositions, and Cross-Examination
- National Business Institute
- Co-authored and presented paper.
- Mini Med School for Attorneys, Online
- National Business Institute
- Legal cases involving medical issues require a strong grasp of how the body functions, how injuries impede those functions and what the prognoses and treatments look like. In this online seminar, the unique blend of medical and legal insights were shared to help attorneys evaluate, take on and defend cases involving injuries.
- Personal Injury Practice From the Plaintiff’s and Defense’s Perspective, Virginia Beach, VA
- Virginia Beach Bar Association
- Super Lawyer
- Super Lawyers
- Top Lawyers of Coastal Virginia
- Coastal Virginia Magazine
- Top Lawyers of Coastal Virginia
- Coastal Virginia Magazine
- Super Lawyer
- Super Lawyers
- Legal Elite
- Virginia Business
- Brain Injury Association of Virginia
- Member
- Current
- Virginia Beach Bar Association
- Member
- Current
- Norfolk-Portsmouth Bar Association
- Member
- Current
- Virginia Trial Lawyers Association
- Member
- Current
- Activities: Board of Governors
- American Association for Justice
- Member
- Current
- North Carolina
- North Carolina State Bar
- Virginia
- Virginia State Bar
- West Virginia
- West Virginia State Bar
- Free Consultation
- Personal Injury
- Animal & Dog Bites, Brain Injury, Car Accidents, Construction Accidents, Motorcycle Accidents, Premises Liability, Truck Accidents, Wrongful Death
- Car Accidents
- FELA
- Truck Accidents
- English: Spoken, Written
- Spanish: Spoken