Mediation Successes in Virginia (VA) Wrongful Death and Major Injury Cases

Virginia (VA) Wrongful Death Lawyers
Offices in Virginia Beach, Hampton & Elizabeth City, NC 

Mediation has brought great changes to the practice of law in the field of serious personal injury and wrongful death. In Virginia, medication is not required by the court but can be agreed to by the parties, unlike other states like North Carolina (NC) where medication is mandatory. Mediation is where the parties get together in an informal setting with a neutral person, typically a retired judge, and discuss settlement of the case with an eye towards getting the matter resolved prior to a full jury trial.

This alternate resolution option has been around for some time, but not every law firm approaches it the same way that our firm does. We prepare for the mediation just as hard as we would for full jury trial. We come into the all day mediation with a state of the art audio-visual presentation that typically blows the insurance company and the defense attorney away. We show them that we are ready, willing and able to go to trial because the presentation that we do is very similar to what the other side will see inside the court if we go to jury verdict. Sometimes, particularly in wrongful death cases, we are able to bring everyone in the medication conference to tears understanding the huge loss and grief when a loved one has been killed in an accident. During just the past year we have successfully mediated cases including:

• A wrongful death at a railroad crossing where our client’s family member was hit by a train in his truck as his son in the vehicle following behind saw his father die before his eyes,
• A wrongful death case where the client’s husband was killed by a delivery truck driver who slid into him on a shoulder of the highway losing control of his vehicle,
• A medical malpractice case in which a doctor’s mistake killed a wife, a F.E.L.A. lawsuit in which a railroad conductor had post-traumatic stress disorder and two knee surgeries as a result of a collision between two trains, among other injury and wrongful death matters.

The common element in each of these was that we prepared hard to make the best presentation possible at mediation so that the other side was forced to do an honest evaluation of the strengths of our case.

Our team for putting on a strong show at the mediation includes a Virginia Beach audio-visual expert, Alan Michaelis, who helps us design and build the PowerPoint and video presentations. He is used by the top personal injury litigators in Virginia. He wrote an article for the Virginia Trial Lawyers Association (the main organization for attorneys representing individuals in injury cases) describing what a terrific job my law partner Jim Lewis did in putting together a video of the family members in a wrongful death case and editing it down to a 30-minute film showing just how tragic the loss was to each of this person’s survivors including his widow and adult children.

About the Editors: Shapiro, Lewis & Appleton personal injury law firm is based in Virginia practicing primarily in the southeastern U.S. and handles only injury law, including car, truck, railroad, and medical negligence cases and more. The firm's website is: hsinjurylaw.com, the firm edits two injury law blogs: Virginia Beach Injuryboard & Norfolk Injuryboard, and also hosts a video library covering many FAQ’s on personal injury subjects.

How can you identify a top Virginia injury lawyer for your case? Look no further.

Our VA personal injury lawyers have been selected for many accolades.

Two of the attorneys with our Virginia Beach accident injury law firm, James Lewis and Rick Shapiro, have been named the Best Lawyers in America since 2008. Two of our VA injury lawyers -- Lewis and Shapiro - have been named to Virginia Super Lawyers for Personal Injury since 2010. In addition, Lewis and Shapiro have been selected for inclusion in the National Million Dollar Advocates Forum since 2009. 

Our VA accident injury law firm was the first in the commonwealth nvited to join Primerus, a select group of highly ethical and respected law firms. Rick Shapiro was named as one of the Top 100 Injury Lawyers in Virginia by the National Trial Lawyers Association.

In October, 2000 our law firm and co-counsel obtained what was then the largest verdict in Virginia's history for an injured person. Our brain damaged client received an initial award of $46 million that rose to $60 million with interest when the defendant abandoned an appeal and agreed to settle. 

Geographical Areas

Our personal injury lawyers handle personal injury cases throughout the eastern USA, and work closely with lawyers in other states on signficant injury cases.

In Virginia, this includes Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Portsmouth, Hampton, Newport News, Suffolk, Richmond, Petersburg, Roanoke, Salem, Alexandria, Arlington, Fairfax, Fredericksburg, Charlottesville, Ashland, Big Stone Gap, and every community on the Eastern Shore, including Accomack, Onancock, Chincoteauge, Wachapreague, and Cape Charles, Bloxom, Eastville, Exmore, Greenbackville, Machipongo, Mappsville, Melfa, Nassawadox, Onley, Tangier, Temperanceville, Wachapreague and Wallops Island.

In West Virginia, we can handle personal injury claims in Bluefield, Beckley, Bridgeport, Charles Town, Charleston, Fairmont, Huntington, Lewisburg, Madison, Martinsburg, Morgantown, Moundsville, Parkersburg, Ripley, Sutton, Weirton, Wheeling and any other town or county.

Injury Lawyers licensed in VA, WV, North Carolina (NC), South Carolina (SC), Kentucky (KY), Florida (FL) and Washington, DC.

 

About the Editors: Shapiro, Lewis & Appleton is a Virginia injury law firm whose attorneys focus on personal injury and accident law and have experience handling wrongful death cases. We have offices in Virginia Beach and Hampton, VA, but we're ready to come to you anywhere in Virginia if your family member or loved one was killed as a result of someone else's carelessness.

Rick Shapiro and James Lewis have been named to the National Million Dollar Advocates Form since 2009 and listed among the Best Lawyers in America since 2008. Shapiro and Lewis have also been named Virginia Super Lawyers for Personal Injury Law since 2010. Fewer than 5 percent of lawyers are chosen for this professional honor. In addition, ours was the first injury law firm in Virginia to join Primerus, a select group of highly ethical and respected law firms.

Our VA personal injury firm has the highest rating of AV from Martindale-Hubbell, a national lawyer ranking organization, which means we have a reputation for preeminent legal skill.

While not every injury case meets our criteria, we offer free initial confidential case consultations, so call us toll free at (800) 752-0042. If you cannot get through due to high call volume, please leave a voicemail so we can return your call.