John Cooper

Cooper Hurley Injury Lawyers

32 years experience
Personal Injury, Products Liability, Medical Malpractice
North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia

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Summary

John Cooper has been a personal injury lawyer, specializing in car, truck and motorcycle accident cases as well as wrongful death, brain injuries, slip and fall, product liability and FELA railroad employee injuries for over 30 years. He is a founding partner of Cooper Hurley Injury Lawyers. The firm has offices in Norfolk and client meeting locations in Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Portsmouth, Newport News, Suffolk, the Eastern Shore of Virginia and Hampton, VA. His law partners are Jim Hurley and Bill O’Mara.

John Cooper handles cases in Virginia, North Carolina and, West Virginia. He has taken on railroad worker injury and truck accident litigation across the United States.

John Cooper handled a truck accident/wrongful death lawsuit which resulted in the largest settlement of a motor vehicle-related case in all of Virginia in 2010, according to Virginia Lawyers Weekly. In 2012, John Cooper and Jim Hurley handled a case in which a woman from Hampton was badly injured in a truck crash, which led to a $5 million settlement. John Cooper handled a $3.5 million trucking accident death case in Norfolk, securing $3.5 million for a child who lost a parent.

Attorney John Cooper helped secure $2.86 million for a Newport News highway worker who had his legs amputated after he was hit by a drunk driver in Norfolk.

John Cooper holds numerous honors. He chaired the FELA Litigation Group of the American Association for Justice. He is a Governor at Large of the Virginia Trial Lawyers Association. He has led efforts to bring Continuing Legal Education (CLE) to attorneys across Virginia. John Cooper has been listed in Virginia Super Lawyers for personal injury law since 2010 (only 5% of lawyers get this listing). He holds a top AV rating since 2004 from Martindale-Hubbell, showing the highest level of skill and ethics. He is a member of the Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Roundtable and is ranked 10 of 10 by Avvo attorney ratings. He lives in Norfolk, Virginia.

Education

University of Virginia School of Law: J.D. (1988) | Law; 1986 - 1988

University of California - Berkeley: B.A. (1985) | Anthropology; 1982 - 1985; Honors: Phi Beta Kappa (academic honor society)

Professional Experience

Managing Partner: Cooper Hurley Injury Lawyers; 2011 - 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.; 1997 - 2011; 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.; 1995 - 1997; 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.; 1989 - 1995; 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; 1988 - 1989; 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

Publications

Articles & Publications

Top Twenty Tips for Car, Truck or Motorcycle Accidents: January 1, 2013

Speaking Engagements

Personal Injury Practice From the Plaintiff’s and Defense’s Perspective, Virginia Beach, VA: September 26, 2019; Virginia Beach Bar Association
Advocacy in Thought, Word and Deed, 2019 Adovacy Seminar, Norfolk, VA: October 17, 2019; Virginia Trial Lawyers Association
Handling a Personal Injury Case: Phone Call to Verdict: January 1, 2009; Virginia Beach Bar Association
Tort Law, Tort Law Seminar, Norfolk, VA: May 15, 2019; Virginia Trial Lawyers Association

Awards

Top Lawyers of Coastal Virginia: CoVa Biz Magazine; 2020; CoVa BIZ’s Top Lawyers peer-to-peer survey conducts polls in the legal field to identify the attorneys who exemplify excellence in their various fields. Cova Biz lists the top rated legal professionals in the Coastal Virginia area.

Client Champion - Silver: Martindale-Hubbell; 2019

Super Lawyer: Super Lawyers; 2019; Selected to Super Lawyers: 2010 - 2013, 2015 - 2019 Listed among VA Super Lawyers for personal injury law since 2010 (only 5% of lawyers get this listing)

AV Preeminent: Martindale-Hubbell; 2019; Top AV rating since 2004 by the Martindale-Hubbell attorney reputation assessment system, showing the highest level of skill and ethics

Leaders in the Law: Virginia Lawyers Weekly; 2019

The National Trial Lawyers - Top 100: The National Trail Lawyers; 2019

Top Lawyers of Coastal Virginia: CoVa Biz Magazine; 2019; CoVa BIZ’s Top Lawyers peer-to-peer survey conducts polls in the legal field to identify the attorneys who exemplify excellence in their various fields. Cova Biz lists the top rated legal professionals in the Coastal Virginia area.