Personal Injury

Richard A. Gantner is certified by the Supreme Court of New Jersey, Board on Trial Attorney Certification, as a Civil Trial Attorney. Rich practices primarily in the areas of Employment law (plaintiff and management); and represents claimants in Medical Malpractice; Personal Injury; Automobile Accidents and Injuries; and Workers Compensation.

I grew up in Lakewood, Ohio, the younger brother of two sisters and the son of immigrants. My mom was born in Germany and my dad was a Gottscheer. Gottschee was once a settlement of Austrians in what's now Slovenia; a settlement of German speakers that existed for about 600 years until 1941 ​ I started my legal career working as a law clerk for the Hon. Judge Harry Hanna and the Hon. Judge Leo Spellacy and visiting Judges assigned to preside over civil Jury Trials. During my time with the Court, I gained valuable experience observing lawyers handling Trials and insight in how Judges preside over Trials. As a law clerk, I assisted Judges with legal issues arose during those Trials. ​ After working for the Court, I practiced law for more than 18 years with a large regional defense firm representing insurance companies and insureds in a wide-variety of civil lawsuits including cases involving personal injury, wrongful death, mass tort, retail and hospitality, trucking and commercial transportation, commercial litigation, creditor's rights, and condominium law. ​ A few years ago, I had an opportunity to represent a woman who suffered a wrist injury and a unique, but serious condition when an airbag caused abrasions on her neck and face. Over-the-counter medications used to treat the abrasions caused my client to develop an allergy to propylene glycol. When I first got involved, the insurance company for the individual who caused that accident offered a mere $5,000 and denied that her condition was related to the accident. After working on the case, I obtained a significant six figure settlement. I gained a satisfaction that made me realize I wanted to represent individuals and families.

I chose to represent people who unfortunately suffered a life-altering injury because I saw first-hand the impact that this can have on a loved one and their family. What sets me apart is that when a client leaves my office, they have peace of mind knowing that they and their family will be protected. I have been representing injured clients for two decades and have recovered millions of dollars in damages for my clients. First and foremost, I make sure they get the proper medical care that they require. I provide representation for Workers’ Compensation, Heart and Lung Act, and Act 632/534 Benefits throughout Pennsylvania. I represent injured workers, including police officers, firefighters, correction officers, and injured union and non-union members. I handle all aspects of the litigation for workers’ compensation, Heart and Lung Act, and Act 632/534 benefits. These benefits include return to work orders, appeals from the denial of benefits, permanency proceedings, disability pensions, short and long-term disability benefits, offsets, collective bargaining agreement grievances, arbitrations, unfair labor practices, lump sum settlements and buyouts.

Roger Merrill is a practicing attorney in the state of Texas. He graduated from the University of Houston with his J.D. in 1991. He currently works at his privately owned firm of The Law Offices of Merrill and Associates specializing in Personal Injury.

Paul has a trial practice focused on personal injury cases. He has earned experience in all facets of trial from preliminary hearings through trial and appeal. He has tried cases to verdict in the state and federal courts of Texas and has argued appeals before Texas and federal courts of appeal. Paul started his legal career with the law firm of Worsham, Forsysthe, Sampels & Wooldridge, L.L.P., a venerable Dallas firm started in the 1930s that focused on representation of railroads, utilities, and industrial clients. When Worsham Forsythe merged with Hunton & Williams, L.L.P. in 2002, a 100-year old Virginia-based firm, Paul joined as a litigation partner. Over the next seven years, Hunton & Williams grew to a firm with 1000 lawyers, 150 of which practiced in Dallas. In 2009, Paul left the international firm of Hunton & Williams to start his own firm, Wickes Law, PLLC. He now has the flexibility to represent individual clients and bring his years of experience to help injured victims.

Since the start of his career, Travis B. Terry has focused on personal injury law. He has offered quality representation since 1993. He has successfully handled thousands of injury cases and focuses on cases involving victims of serious injuries. Mr. Terry is proud to serve the Sugar Land, Katy, Richmond, Greater Houston and Austin, TX, areas.

Attorney Josh Mintz is a native Houstonian who grew up around the law, becoming the 7th lawyer in his family when obtaining his J.D. from U.C. Hastings College of the Law (San Francisco) in 2003. Since then, Josh has developed a rare mix of expertise as both a lawyer and businessperson in a wide variety of professional organizations, including the California firm Stradling Yocca Carlson & Rauth, the Am Law 100 international law firm Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman, and the Beaumont, TX based firm Waldman Smallwood. He supplemented this experience with several years managing multi-million dollar business segments for retailers UncommonGoods and Design Within Reach, and the media company behind Dwell magazine. After spending much of his childhood in Southwest Houston, Josh moved to Kingwood in 1990 and later graduated from Kingwood High School in 1996. He spent his first half of college at the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor) as part of the LSA Honors Program, before transferring to the University of Texas (Austin) and graduating with a B.A. in 2000. After several years in New York City, Josh gladly returned home to Houston in 2014 where he now lives with his wife, Dr. Emily Mintz, and their three children.

Joey Morris was born in Dothan, Alabama and moved at a young age to Florida, where he graduated from Ft. Walton Beach High School. Upon graduation he attended the University of Alabama where he graduated with a BS in Finance. Joey then entered the Cumberland School of Law at Samford University where he graduated in 1994. While in law school Joey attended the University of Kent in Canterbury, England for a summer semester where he studied the European Common Market, and Comparative law of the United States and Great Britain under the direction of former appellate judge and Solicitor General of the United States, Ken Starr. In addition, Joey was the victor in the school wide Haley Federal Trial Competition and was later chosen to serve as the Director of the Cumberland Trial Advocacy Board. He was also listed in Who’s Who of American Law students. After law school Joey practiced for a year as a defense attorney with the former Gadsden firm of Simmons, Brunson, Sasser and Callis, PC. He then continued his defense practice by moving to Dothan and joining the firm of Cobb and Shealy, P.C. where his practice concentrated in the areas of wrongful death, products liability and personal injury. In 1999 he left Cobb and Shealy, P.C. and co-founded what is today the law firm of Morris, Andrews, Talmadge & Driggers LLC, which is committed to exclusively representing individuals or businesses that have been injured or damaged by the conduct of another. Joey’s experience as a former insurance defense attorney has proved invaluable in assisting his clients when it comes to litigating and obtaining a fair recovery. Joey is licensed to practice in both Alabama and Florida but has also handled and litigated cases in Georgia, Mississippi, Texas, Illinois, Connecticut, Arizona and Tennessee. He is also admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court; the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit; the United States Court of Federal Claims; the United States District Court of Alabama for the Northern, Middle, and Southern Districts; and the United States District Court of Florid for the Northern District. Joey has been active in the following legal and civic organizations: Houston County Bar Association, where he served as the President of the Young Lawyers; Past Chairman of the Board for the Lawyer Referral Service of the State of Alabama; the American Bar Association, the Alabama Trial Lawyers Association; the American Association for Justice and the American Inns of Court. He was also part of the Dothan Leadership class of the Dothan Chamber of Commerce; past Boys and Girls Club Board of Directors; Past Dothan-Houston County Rotary Club member; past Adjunct Professor Troy University. Attorney Morris has been active in the legal community for the past two decades. From 2000-2009 Joey was elected and served on the Board of Bar Commissioners of the Alabama State Bar, and during that time he also served on the Disciplinary Panel for the Alabama State Bar. He has also served part time from 2007-2017 as a municipal court judge. In 2011 and 2017-2019, Joey was nominated and chosen to the list of Super Lawyers for the State of Alabama, which is an honor chosen by his peers and an independent review committee. Additionally, Joey was inducted into the Multimillion Dollar Advocated Forum, which is restricted to those attorneys who have obtained multimillion dollar settlements or verdicts. Joey was also awarded an AV Preeminent rating by Martindale-Hubbell, which is presented to those attorneys with the highest ethical standards and professional ability. Joey is the proud parent of four children and enjoys spending time with his family and traveling.

Heber Simmons III, the founder of Simmons Dallas, PLLC, is a lawyer who always remembers whom he represents, and keeps their interests at heart from start to finish. He is licensed in all federal and state courts in Mississippi and Tennessee. He originally started his legal practice in 1989 with the firm of Watkins Ludlam and Stennis in Jackson, Mississippi. He then joined Armstrong Allen, a Memphis, Tennessee firm, to start a Mississippi office in 1994. After becoming Managing Partner, Mr. Simmons decided to pursue his individual interests and the freedom to represent clients across a broad spectrum of legal matters. His representations include Fortune 500 companies, as well as individuals and businesses, in matters involving medical malpractice, product liability, administrative healthcare matters, nursing law, nursing licensure, contracts, workers' compensation, wrongful denial of insurance, contract actions, personal injury, toxic exposures/injury, and business litigation. Mr. Simmons also serves as a mediator, and is approved by the Mississippi Bar and the Federal Panel of Mediators. Mr. Simmons received his law degree from the University of Mississippi School of Law, where he served as Editor in Chief of the Mississippi Law Journal. He has served as an adjunct professor of Healthcare Law at the Else School of Management at Millsaps College, and authored and co-authored many published materials, including the Mississippi Chapter from West Publication's Product Liability in 50 States, and numerous lectures for continuing education seminars and in-house presentations. Mr. Simmons is a member of the Mississippi Bar Association, the Tennessee Bar Association, the American Bar Association, the Mississippi Defense Lawyers Association, and National Health Lawyers Association. He serves as a member of the Mississippi Bar Committees for Health Law and Alternative Dispute Resolution. He is active with the Rotary Club of Jackson, where he currently serves as a member of its Board of Directors. He enjoys time with his family, as well as hunting, fishing, archery, tennis, golf, scuba diving and being an amateur carpenter. Mr. Simmons has been named a SuperLawyer by Top Lawyers of Mid-South for 2012, 2013, and 2014, and he has served as the Chairman of the Medicine and Law Committee of the American Bar Association, and President of the Jackson Rotary Club (2011-2012).

After graduating from the University of Virginia Law School in 1975, Mr. Cocke moved to Clarksdale, MS to begin practicing in a general litigation firm. In 1982, Mr. Cocke and Mr. Merkel left that firm and established Merkel & Cocke, P.A., and since that time the emphasis of Mr. Cocke's practice has progressed more and more toward medical malpractice. At the present time his practice is exclusively devoted to handling medical negligence cases for the plaintiff, either as a result of direct contact by the client or as, more commonly occurs, on referral from other attorneys who are not familiar with the handling of medical negligence cases. Mr. Cocke handles all types of medical negligence cases, but a uniform requirement is that serious injury or death have occurred as a result of the medical mistake. Mr. Cocke has established a reputation for complex cases involving babies who sustain permanent brain injuries. He also handles cases involving deaths as a result of the failure to treat in the emergency room setting and the premature discharge of patients after surgery, as well as failure to promptly diagnose cancer. Mr. Cocke has developed a particular interest in the use of modern technology in medical negligence cases and has spoken at seminars on this subject. The Internet has developed into a very useful tool in conducting medical research and communicating with other attorneys handling similar cases via the Internet is also a major help in the handling of medical cases. Mr. Cocke was selected Best Lawyer of the year for 2012 and 2014 in The Memphis area in the field of Medical Malpractice and has been selected a Best Lawyer and Super Lawyer every year since 2006. Mr. Cocke has his pilot’s license, and enjoys flying his airplane for work-related matters and for fun. He owns Yazoo Pass restaurant in Clarksdale, and enjoys being involved in that venture. He is an avid promoter of blues tourism in Clarksdale.