Railroad Injury

Herbert Thornbury, Esquire, has more than 30 years of experience serving personal injury victims in the Chattanooga, Tennessee area. As a board-certified attorney and a respected member of the legal community, Mr. Thornbury makes a commitment to providing aggressive yet compassionate services to those who need it most. Mr. Thornbury has years of training and experience backed by a range of distinguished legal credentials and an impressive client track record. Mr. Thornbury's success as a personal injury lawyer can be attributed not only to his expertise, but also to his ability to understand the dynamics of personal injury claims and how they can impact the lives of individuals and families. His aggressive legal style along with his personal approach to handling claims makes Mr. Thornbury an ideal attorney for Chattanooga residents.

Jim and Caroleann founded Coogan Gallagher in 2022 after working together at the Dwyer & Coogan firm. After these many years of experience, Jim understands that being injured does not make you a victim, but it can leave you feeling vulnerable, anxious, and uncertain about what to do next. Jim is an experienced trial lawyer who is dedicated to understanding the details of your losses and working to secure your peace of mind once again. It is what fuels his enthusiasm for the hard work it takes to see a case through to securing a jury’s verdict–the ultimate statement of truth in the civil justice system. Jim practices in Chicago and throughout the State of Illinois on behalf of his clients.

Prior to joining the firm in 2000, Scott E. Perry clerked for U.S. District Judge T.F. Gilroy Daly in the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut and was a litigator at Robinson & Cole, one of Connecticut’s oldest and largest law firms. Scott graduated from Brown University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science (where he was a linebacker on the varsity football team) and obtained his law degree from the University of Connecticut School of Law. Scott is licensed to practice law before the state and federal courts in Connecticut and New York.

Prior to founding our law firm, George was a fifth-generation railroad worker. During his high school days, George began working summer jobs on the New Haven Railroad as a clerk, trackman, laborer, and caboose inspector. In 1968, George volunteered for the United States Marine Corps and trained at Parris Island and Camp Lejeune. From 1968 to 1970 he served as a corporal in the Marines, including a tour of duty in the Republic of Vietnam as a combat rifleman where he was awarded a Purple Heart. After the Marines, George returned to work full-time on the railroad while also attending college and law school. During his college years, George worked for Penn Central in the New Haven crew callers office, as a block operator at Devon Tower, a brakeman at the New Haven East Class Yard, a skate man at the New Haven Eastbound Hump, a road freight brakeman on jobs to Selkirk and Maybrook, and then as a passenger trainman on the New Haven Shoreline Division. In his spare time George was an amateur boxer with over 60 fights in AAU (Amateur Athletic Union) matches and in the New York City and Massachusetts Golden Glove tournaments. In 1973, he was selected for a national AAU team as a middleweight. While in law school, George continued working for the railroad. He worked on a local freight at night from Framingham to Lowell and then started working as a passenger trainman on the Franklin and Needham branches during the weekdays. On the weekends, he also worked as a conductor on the mainline from South Station to Penn Station in New York City. During George’s first years as an attorney from 1977 to 1978, he continued working as a passenger conductor on Conrail’s Metropolitan Region between New Haven and Grand Central Terminal. George’s career as a railroad employee ended on November 9, 1978. That was the day he won a federal court FELA (Federal Employers’ Liability Act) jury verdict of $600,000 against Conrail on behalf of a fellow Conrail conductor. That night George worked his usual conductor job between New Haven and New York’s Grand Central Terminal with his co-workers celebrating his great victory (the $600,000 verdict was record-breaking at that time). The next morning George received a call from Conrail’s General Superintendent informing him that he was fired for “disloyalty.” The superintendent told George that Conrail’s top managers in Philadelphia were almost more upset about the fact he earned his $60 in conductor wages during that night of celebration than the $600,000 verdict Conrail would have to pay. George is admitted to the bars of Connecticut, New York, Massachusetts, and Washington, D.C.

Mr. Pierret attended the University of Dallas on full academic scholarship, obtaining a degree in Philosophy, and went straight to law school at St. Mary’s University in San Antonio. His first job as an attorney brought him to Fort Worth as a briefing attorney for Justices Clyde Ashworth and David Farris on the Fort Worth Court of Appeals, and he has remained in Tarrant County for the past 35 years. Mr. Pierret’s practice has always revolved around tort law, both plaintiff and defense, and he has been Board Certified in Civil Trial Law since 1991 and Personal Injury Law since 1998. He received a Top 10 Attorney Award in 2020 from the National Academy of Personal Injury Attorneys, and he will devote his time at Bailey & Galyen to representing those who have been injured by someone else’s negligence.

Kimberlee Markle is an attorney practicing in our pre-litigation department at Bailey & Galyen. She grew up in the Red Oak area (close to Dallas) and now resides in Fort Worth with her husband and three children. She holds a bachelor’s degree in government from the University of Texas at Austin. She earned her Juris Doctorate from Texas Wesleyan University School of Law in 1997. She was admitted to the State Bar of Texas in 1998. Kimberlee is experienced in representing clients in the pre-litigation process of personal injury cases with understanding and compassion. She is aware of the serious nature that the clients are experiencing and acts with professionalism in all capacities to represent the client’s best interest. Kimberlee works hard and values the position she holds with in the firm. She offers advice, counsel, and significant knowledge to all her clients so she can provide diligent and qualified.

Scott Robelen is a Board-Certified personal injury trial attorney. Scott is a veteran litigator who has tried more than 300 cases to jury verdict over his legal career. Opposing counsel knows and respects that he will take meritorious cases to trial with extreme preparation and skill. Scott has extensive experience handling complex commercial litigation, industrial accident litigation, and catastrophic injury litigation. His verdicts have impacted the policies of police departments, correctional facilities, human resource departments, emergency rooms, universities, insurance, and corporations. Scott Robelen was admitted to the State Bar of Texas in 1989 and is licensed to practice in the United States Federal District Courts for the Northern, Eastern, Western and Southern Districts of Texas. In 1986, he received his BBA with emphasis in Finance and Economics from the University of Oklahoma. In 1989, Mr. Robelen earned his Doctorate of Jurisprudence with Distinction from the University of Oklahoma College of Law, where he was a member of the honorary legal fraternity, Phi Delta Phi.