Norfolk Personal Injury Lawyer
On This Page
- Preeminent Representation for Norfolk Area Car, Truck or Motorcycle Accidents and Other Serious Injury and Wrongful Death Cases
- Types of Cases We Handle in Our Norfolk Office
- Common Causes and Locations of Auto Accidents in Norfolk
- What Should You Do if You’ve Been Involved in a Norfolk Accident?
- Maximizing Your Recovery for Your Serious Injury
- Damages You Are Entitled to Following a Norfolk Accident
- Wrongful Death Accidents in Norfolk
- Should You Handle an Injury Case Yourself Directly With a Car Insurance Company?
- Skilled Advocates in a Wide Variety of Personal Injury Cases
- Contact an Established Injury Law Firm in Norfolk, Virginia
A personal injury case is a type of insurance claim or lawsuit made by a person injured by the negligence or other wrongful acts of another. A personal injury case can arise from any circumstance in which another was negligent in causing your injuries, harms, and other losses.
Whatever the circumstance, Cooper Hurley Injury Lawyers wants to help you seek the compensation you need to fully recover from your injuries and losses. Contacting our Norfolk personal injury lawyers as soon as possible allows you to access our years of experience with a variety of civil lawsuits. We could help you deal with insurance companies, understand your options, and avoid common mistakes in personal injury cases.
Preeminent Representation for Norfolk Area Car, Truck or Motorcycle Accidents and Other Serious Injury and Wrongful Death Cases
Although Cooper Hurley Injury Lawyers represents clients throughout southeastern Virginia and the Eastern Shore, we are headquartered in Norfolk. Many of our lawyers were raised and continue to live in Norfolk. We know the area and the people intimately. When seeking help after an auto accident, you can rely on our legal team, which has more than 60 years of combined experience and has recovered millions of dollars for our clients.
In addition, our lawyers have garnered numerous honors, including membership in the Million Dollar Advocates Forum, inclusion on the Virginia Super Lawyers list, AV® Preeminent™ Peer Review Ratings by Martindale-Hubbell® for high ethical standards and professional ability, and the Client Champion Silver Award. We have also compiled a perfect 10.0 Avvo Rating.
Types of cases we handle in our Norfolk office
Common Causes and Locations of Auto Accidents in Norfolk
Norfolk is the third most populous city in Virginia with about 130,000 licensed drivers. Norfolk is home to the largest naval base in the world, is a major port city, and is a popular tourist destination, which brings with it heavy tractor trailer and passenger automobile traffic. Since Norfolk borders many waterways, it has many unusual and dangerous traffic patterns, roadways, and tunnels. The major highways and roadways in Norfolk, Virginia where commuters, tourists, and commercial drivers may encounter traffic accidents include:
- Interstate 64 (I-64)
- Interstate 564 (I-564)
- Interstate 264 (I-264)
- Tidewater Drive
- Military Highway
- Hampton Blvd
- Terminal Blvd
- Little Creek Road
- Ocean View Ave
- Norview Avenue
- Brambleton Ave
- St Pauls Blvd
- Waterside Drive
- Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel (HRBT)
- Midtown Tunnel
- Downtown Tunnel
If you or someone you know has unfortunately been in an accident at one of these common locations or anywhere in Norfolk, there is no substitute for an attorney’s experience and a detailed investigation. Our lawyers have helped countless people injured by car accidents arising from:
- Distracted driving
- Driving under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs
- Failing to observe a stop sign
- Running a red light
- Failing to yield the right of way to other motorists
- Failing to yield the right of way to pedestrians
- Following too closely
- Speeding and reckless driving
- Using a cellphone or texting while driving
- Failing to obey traffic signals
- Hit-and-runs
- Defective brakes and other faulty equipment
What Should You Do if You’ve Been Involved in a Norfolk Accident?
If you have been involved in a traffic accident in Norfolk, you should promptly contact law enforcement after removing yourself from immediate danger. If you are on a Norfolk roadway, a Norfolk police officer will likely report to the scene. If you are on a stretch of interstates in Norfolk, either the Norfolk Police Department and/or Virginia State Police will arrive at the scene.
At the scene, a law enforcement officer can request emergency medical attention if you have been badly injured and will perform an investigation by interviewing the involved drivers and any witnesses who may have remained on the scene. This is very important to your personal injury case because the evidence, including names, witnesses, insurance information, and photographs obtained by the police, can be used to help prove your personal injury case to an insurance company or a jury if your case does not settle.
While the investigating officers usually do excellent work, they are very busy and must work fast. The officers are usually moving as fast as possible to clear the roadway and get to their next calls. As a result, they may not catch everything or write down the information for every witness. This is why, if you have suffered personal injuries as a result of an accident through no fault of your own, you should contact experienced personal injury lawyers to complete the investigation.
Accident Investigation Process
A prompt and thorough investigation is critical to a successful personal injury case, even when the fault of the other driver seems obvious. A prompt investigation will not only help prove fault, but it can also preserve evidence relevant to the extent of your injuries and the severity of the accident. Following a Norfolk accident, Cooper Hurley Injury Lawyers’ investigation techniques often include:
- Accident report: We know how to promptly get a copy.
- Interview the police officer: While your accident is likely an event you will never forget, your average officer will investigate many, many similar accidents. In some cases, it is critical to talk to the officer promptly before information is forgotten or notes are destroyed.
- Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests: The Virginia Freedom of Information Act applies to Norfolk accidents. A FOIA request can be made to the Norfolk Police Department or Virginia State Police. These FOIA responses from the police department often contain valuable evidence to help win your personal injury case. It is very common now for police officers to wear body cameras, which can capture interviews with at-fault drivers and prevent them from changing their stories later.
- Visit the accident scene: Important information can sometimes be obtained by promptly visiting the accident scene. There may be a debris field, car parts still in the roadway, or skid marks to help prove what happened.
- Witness interviews: It is good to interview witnesses as soon after an accident as possible. The witnesses’ memories of the accident will be fresh, and you can secure good contact information for the witnesses if they subsequently move away.
- Video footage: Video surveillance cameras are more common than ever. Sometimes, nearby homes and businesses capture accidents. Visiting nearby businesses and asking to review and preserve video footage can be critical to a case.
While all of these investigative techniques may not be necessary in every case, an experienced personal injury firm will be in a position to conduct a prompt investigation to preserve all necessary evidence to put you in the best position to win your case and be paid fairly for your injuries, lost wages, and other damages.
What Should You Do if You’ve Been Involved in a Norfolk Accident?
One key to maximizing the amount of compensation you recover is retaining an experienced attorney with a record of success in cases of similar accidents and injuries. Our firm exclusively represents peopled injured through the negligence of others and has handled a variety of car crash and other injury cases, including catastrophic injuries and wrongful deaths. The toughest cases undoubtedly are catastrophic injuries that permanently change victims’ lives. These include:
- Disfiguring burns and scarring
- Traumatic brain injury
- Internal organ damage
- Loss of limbs, eyesight, or hearing
- Paralysis
- Broken bones and other injuries requiring surgery
- Amputation cases
No matter the extent of your injury, you can have confidence that our attorneys are up to the task and will fight aggressively for the best possible outcome. In addition to injury accidents, we also represent families in actions arising from loved ones’ wrongful deaths.
Damages You Are Entitled to Following a Norfolk Accident
If someone has been injured as a result of another’s negligence through no fault of their own, they are entitled to payment for their harms and losses. The money usually comes from the different insurance companies involved. You are entitled to more than just money for your accident-related medical bills. You are entitled to payment for other harms and losses directly caused by an accident and your resulting injuries. Virginia law permits payment after a Norfolk accident for:
- Bodily injuries sustained and their effect on health
- Physical pain (past and future)
- Mental anguish (past and future)
- Disfigurement and deformity and any associated humiliation or embarrassment
- Inconvenience caused in the past and future
- Past medical expenses
- Future medical expenses
- Lost earnings or wage loss
- Loss of earning capacity
Not every Norfolk personal injury case will have all these damages, and insurance companies and their lawyers will scrutinize your injury and damages claim and sometimes hire doctors to argue you are not injured as badly as you claim. Cooper Hurley Injury Lawyers is experienced in telling your story and explaining to insurance companies, judges, and juries the true extent of your injuries, harms, and losses.
Working with Experts to Prove Personal Injury Damages
Sometimes, we hire experts to help prove your case and the extent of your damages. Some damages experts or consultants we often hire in cases include:
- Medical experts and other healthcare providers
- Life care planners: These experts help calculate the costs of future medical treatment. If you have experienced catastrophic injuries that require significant medical care over a lifetime, then your future medical expenses can be hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars.
- Vocational expert: Sometimes following an accident, a person can no longer continue working in the same field, and as a result, makes less money. If this change in work is permanent, then a vocational expert can help calculate and explain to the jury the lifetime of lost earnings someone suffers following an accident and lost career or trade. Your vocational loss will be significant if you can no longer work or now make significantly less because of your injuries.
- Videographer: A videographer can film an accident victim with catastrophic injuries to help show how a person’s life is now different with everyday tasks.
- Medical illustrations: In cases where our clients need surgeries because of an accident, we will hire specialists to create unique medical illustrations of the injuries and surgeries step-by-step. It is one thing for your doctor to describe the surgery, but it is often more impactful for the doctor to show the jury what you had to go through.
Using experts is a very effective way to prove the full extent of your injuries, harms, and losses after a Norfolk accident. The injury lawyers with Cooper Hurley Injury Lawyers have worked with experts in the past and are skilled at telling your story and getting you fair payment for what happened to you.
Wrongful Death Accidents in Norfolk
Tragically, many serious Norfolk car, truck, and motorcycle accidents result in the deaths of loved ones. There is no amount of money that can ever truly compensate someone for the loss of a family member. If someone dies as a result of negligence, a Virginia Death by Wrongful Act claim or case can be filed.
A Virginia Death by Wrongful Act Claim seeks compensation for the survivors of the deceased for their loss of a loved one. The Act identifies the family members eligible to receive money for their losses as a result of the death of a family member. Surviving family members may be entitled to payment following the death for:
- Sorrow
- Mental anguish
- Loss of solace (companionship, comfort, guidance, and advice from the deceased)
- Loss of income of the deceased suffered by the survivors
- Payment for loss of services provided by the deceased to the survivors
- Payment for medical expenses incurred for the care and treatment of the deceased resulting from the injuries that caused his or her death
- Funeral and burial expenses
Should You Handle an Injury Case Yourself Directly With a Car Insurance Company?
It is advisable to talk with an experienced personal injury attorney before talking with an insurance company. Cooper Hurley Injury Lawyers offers free consultations. We are happy to discuss with you if your case would benefit from the help of an experienced Norfolk personal injury law firm. There certainly are some minor accidents, where the injuries are minor, which a person can likely handle on their own. If your injuries are serious, however, it is always advisable to hire an experienced lawyer to assist.
Insurance companies want to pay you as little as possible. They also apply pressure tactics and try to get you to settle your case quickly. This is especially dangerous if you do not truly understand the extent of your injuries in the days following an accident. You may hope that you will quickly recover, but sometimes the injuries are chronic and permanent. Cooper Hurley Injury Lawyers deals with car insurance companies and lawyers daily, and we know their tactics and dirty tricks they use to pay you as little as possible.
Before you do anything with an insurance company, you should contact an experienced injury law firm. The attorneys at Cooper Hurley Injury Lawyers will gladly discuss your accident with you.
Skilled Advocates in a Wide Variety of Personal Injury Cases
At Cooper Hurley Injury Lawyers, we handle much more than auto accident cases. Our lawyers have extensive experience with virtually every type of negligent injury, including:
- Product liability— Manufacturers who market dangerous products are liable to the customers they harm. If you have been harmed by a defect in an auto part, a consumer appliance, a medical device, or an unreasonably dangerous prescription drug, you can trust our legal team to fight for full compensation, even against a powerful corporation.
- Slip and fall— Norfolk is a dynamic city with numerous amenities. You can enjoy a leisurely visit to the Virginia Zoo, the Norfolk Botanical Gardens, the new Waterside, or the Chrysler Museum of Art, go on a shopping spree at the MacArthur Center or the Norfolk Premium Outlets, and take in a spectacular show at the Scope Arena. But if a hidden hazard causes you to slip and fall, you may be in for a long, painful struggle. While you focus on your health, our skilled lawyers can aggressively manage your injury claim.
- Railroad accidents – Cooper Hurley Injury Lawyers is experienced in representing railroad workers for on-the-job injuries and FELA claims.
Other common circumstances in which a person is injured because of another’s negligence include:
- Injuries at businesses, including stores and hotels
- Electrocutions
- Construction accidents
- Shipyard accidents
- Dog bites and attacks
- Balcony collapses
These are common examples of circumstances in which people are injured by the negligence of others.
When Cooper Hurley Injury Lawyers takes on a case, we have one goal in mind—to maximize the amount you recover for your medical bills, lost wages, pain and suffering, and other losses. But for us to help, you must take action.
In most cases, the Virginia statute of limitations allows only two years from the date of your injury for you to file a claim. The deadline can be longer in some instances and with some minors injured in accident. After that, you lose your rights forever. But, when you retain our services, we immediately go to work investigating your claim and preserving the evidence necessary to prevail.
Contact an Established Injury Law Firm in Norfolk, Virginia
Norfolk is home to the world’s largest naval base and one of NATO’s Strategic Command headquarters. It is more than a military city. Shipbuilding, ship repair, the import and export of cargo, defense contracting, and manufacturing also drive the local economy. And, even though other Hampton Roads cities are better known for tourism, our cruise ship pier brings about 100,000 visitors to Norfolk’s revitalized downtown every year.
As the Commonwealth’s second most-populous city, Norfolk also offers numerous cultural amenities, from Nauticus, a maritime-themed science center and museum, to the Virginia Symphony Orchestra and the Virginia Opera. But, what Norfolk cannot offer is complete protection from injury due to negligence.
If you have suffered a personal injury, Cooper Hurley Injury Lawyers would like to offer a free consultation with an experienced attorney at our firm. Call us today or contact our office online to schedule your appointment. We accept personal injury cases on a contingency basis, so you pay no legal fees until you recover compensation through a settlement or court verdict. Call today for a free case consultation.
Our downtown office is conveniently located at 125 St Paul’s Blvd Ste 510, right across the street from the Norfolk courthouse. When coming into the office for an appointment clients have free reserved parking just steps away from our entrance.
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