Mass Torts

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.

Margaret Moses Branch is married to Turner W. Branch, senior partner of the Branch Law Firm. Ms. Branch is the managing partner. She is a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates and International Women’s Forum, named Woman of the Year in 1995. She serves on the Board of Directors of the New Mexico Trial Lawyers Association and is currently on the Board of Directors of the Center for Civic Values (Interest on Legal Trust Accounts). She was Chair of the Association of Trial Lawyers Women’s Law Caucus (5,000 members) and was founding President of the New Mexico Women’s Bar Association. She has been a frequent lecturer on Continuing Legal Education programs for attorneys. Ms. Branch has served as Vice-Chair of the Association of Trial Lawyers of the America Tobacco Litigation Group. In her practice, Margaret Moses Branch has been particularly interested in women’s health issues. She has served on the Executive Committee of the Failure to Diagnose Breast Cancer ATLA Litigation Group. She was moderator for the National College of Advocacy, Medical-Legal Update Seminar, for the section entitled “Medicine and the Law: Special Issues Facing Women.” Ms. Branch served as a moderator of the ATLA National College of Advocacy, “Litigating Women’s Health Issues”. She has served as counsel in cases that involved failure to diagnose breast cancer, colon cancer, uterine cancer, pancreatitis, leukoplakia, peritonitis, appendicitis, compartment syndrome, aneurysms, pneumonia, meningitis, abruptio placenta, kernicterus, and other illnesses and diseases. She has been involved in cases that addressed issues of surgical negligence, i.e., laminectomies, cholecystectomies, colonoscopies, hernia repairs, and hip replacements. Additionally, she has been involved in cases that dealt with obstetrical issues, i.e., failure to perform timely Caesarean sections, inappropriate radiological procedures, unnecessary hysterectomies, and incomplete abortions.

I have been practicing law for 24 years now and I am one of the founding members of Tomasik Kotin Kasserman, LLC. During this time, I have distinguished myself as one of Chicago’s elite trial attorneys. Prior to starting the my own firm, I practiced for 15 years at the prestigious Clifford Law Offices in Chicago and, before that, as a member of the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office Bureau of Special Prosecutions. I have tried over 100 jury and bench trials to verdict. I have handled and successfully resolved hundreds of millions of dollars in claims in a variety of practice areas, including complex premises liability, aviation litigation, medical negligence, medical liability, hospital liability, and mass disasters.

Amanda Brasfield is a highly experienced trial attorney with a focus on personal injury litigation. From medical malpractice to construction accident negligence, Amanda has obtained a number of multi-million dollar settlements and verdicts. Amanda has worked on dozens of complicated medical malpractice cases involving birth injuries, cerebral palsy, surgical mishaps, delayed diagnosis of cancer, and missed diagnosis of conditions such as heart attack, stroke, infection, sepsis, hemorrhage, meningitis, abdominal and thoracic aortic aneurysm (AAA and TAA), and shock. From depositions through trial, Amanda works tirelessly to uncover what proper medical practices were not followed and what steps could have been taken to prevent injuries and deaths related to medical care. In each of her medical malpractice cases, Amanda works with dedication and tenacity to achieve justice for those who have been harmed by the medical providers in which they placed their trust. To schedule a consultation with Attorney Brasfield, visit her website, or call 815-215-7561.

Steven Lawyer is a practicing lawyer in the state of Iowa.

Born in the tiny coal-mining community of Williamson and raised in Parkersburg, West Virginia, by blue-collar working-class parents who placed a premium on hard work, honesty, and personal integrity, Bernie Layne of Mani Ellis & Layne, PLLC learned from an early age that his path to success would have to be paved with over achievement. While both of his parents grew up in abject poverty that can only be understood or imagined by those who have experienced day-to-day life in ‘coal camp’ housing in southern West Virginia, they became acutely aware of the value and necessity of education and sweat equity as a means of rising above their circumstance. It is from this culture and environment that Bernie’s parents instilled in him, and his two sisters, to never forget where they have come from and to always use their God-given talents and abilities to help people around them who are disadvantaged, hurting, disabled, destitute, or who are being abused by those in a more powerful position than themselves in society. Growing up in Parkersburg, just across the river from Marietta and Belpre, Ohio, he gained a deep, abiding respect for the hardworking people on both sides of the border. Rising from the social position of an ‘underdog,’ it isn’t hard to understand how Bernie has come to embrace these roots by becoming a highly successful legal advocate and defender of the rights of injured working-class West Virginians and Ohioans. A Strong Competitive Spirit As you can imagine, it takes tremendous family support and lots of competitive spirit to become one of only a few college graduates in his family and to become the first lawyer in his immediate or extended family. That love for competition was introduced to him as a child, by his father, an accomplished sportswriter at the Williamson Daily News. Bernie developed a love for the game of basketball and baseball and eventually earned a baseball scholarship to attend the University of Charleston in Charleston, West Virginia. As a college student-athlete, Bernie was introduced to the importance of academic and athletic discipline, teamwork, handling success and overcoming failure. As his dream of playing professional baseball faded, his commitment to personal development and higher education strengthened. Before leaving UC, Bernie was named the Ivor F. Boiarsky Award Winner, which annually recognizes the top Political Science Student in the graduating class, won a statewide award for his senior thesis, in the area of Public Law Policy, on the pitfalls and environmental evils associated with an inadequate and corrupt strip mine permitting system in West Virginia, was voted by his peers as the Student Body President and was chosen by the administration to deliver the commencement address on behalf of his graduating class, while sharing the stage with the late Senator Robert C. Byrd. Inspired to help the disadvantaged Using his undergraduate success as a springboard, Bernie went on to attend graduate school at The Ohio University, where he received a Master of Arts Degree in Sociology. After graduate school, Bernie returned to Appalachia where he worked with elderly and disabled individuals through the Title 19 Medicaid Waiver Program in Southern West Virginia. The year spent working with catastrophically injured people through Title 19 firmed his resolve and commitment to make a difference in the lives of the hardworking citizens of this state. This experience made Bernie aware of the obstacles that face disabled and poverty-stricken individuals and the myriad of statutory and legal hurdles they face, while unable to afford adequate legal assistance to address their needs. Bernie’s disappointment in the legal system and its treatment of handicapped, disabled, and elderly individuals led him to attend law school at The University of Dayton School of Law where he graduated with his Juris Doctor in the Spring of 1999. After finishing law school, Bernie remained in Dayton as a judicial extern for The Honorable Barbara Gorman, the first female judge of the Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas. In the years following his law school graduation, Bernie has remained committed to preserving the rights of injured and disadvantaged citizens of our state and has limited his practice to cases which involve people who have been injured due to the negligence of another person, corporation or governmental body. Throughout his career, he has successfully taken on big corporate asbestos producers who exposed plant workers and pipefitters to deadly and cancer-causing asbestos fibers. He has successfully confronted coal mining companies that deliberately injured workers through a neglect of OSHA regulations and state laws designed to protect this state’s workers. Further, Bernie has successfully resolved wrongful death cases involving children, medical malpractice and poorly designed products by large corporate interests who chose to place profits as a priority over the safety of our citizens. In 2021, Mani, Ellis & Layne, PLLC expanded to a new office in Columbus, OH. For Bernie, who earned both of his graduate degrees in Ohio and has many close family members in Columbus and the surrounding towns, this was a homecoming of sorts, an opportunity to advocate for hardworking people throughout both Ohio and West Virginia. Recognized by his peers Bernie’s success and achievement have been greatly rewarded as he and his partners have built an accomplished law firm at Mani Ellis & Layne, PLLC. His professional attributes and success have also been noticed by his trial lawyer peers. In 2005, he was given the Distinguished Service Award by the West Virginia Association for Justice (WVAJ), which is a group that represents the interests of the injured and disabled in West Virginia. Attorney Layne has been a member of WVAJ and the American Association for Justice for more than a decade. He is past president of WVAJ, serving from June 2013 to June 2014. He has also served on the WVAJ Executive Committee (nine years), the WVAJ Board of Governors and as a member of the LAWPAC organization. He was recently invited to join the prestigious, Southern Trial Lawyers organization and has been apponted to The Charleston Coliseum & Convention Center where he serves on its Executive and Building & Grounds Committees. Additionally, he served a two-year stint as a member of the West Virginia Bar Association’s Judicial Campaign Advertising Committee, which sought to regulate unfair, unethical and untruthful advertising during judicial campaign election cycles. In 2013, he was appointed to the University of Charleston Board of Trustees and served on the Executive and Outreach Committees within that board. He is now serving his twelfth year on the board. In 2014, he was named Alumnus of the Year at the University of Charleston. In 2017, he was appointed chairman of the Welch Challenge Campaign, an $8 million fund-raising initiative at the school. Also in 2013, Mr. Layne received an AV rating from Martindale-Hubbell, which is the highest rating attorneys can achieve from that organization. Only 2% of all practitioners nationwide earn that rating. In 2018, Bernie was selected to the West Virginia Super Lawyers list by his peers. Bernie has obtained several significant verdicts and settlements and has been granted membership in the Million Dollar Advocates Forum and the Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum. On a community level, Bernie recently completed a seven-year term on the Putnam County Career and Technical Center’s Healthcare Advisory Board, on which he worked with other community leaders to design, implement and guide the LPN Nursing Program at the school. His efforts in this area are consistent with his desire to work toward broad based community and rural health care initiatives which support healthcare for the underprivileged throughout our state’s communities.

Tor Hoerman is a nationally recognized attorney who has served in the field for more than twenty-five (25) years. He is most well-known as the founder of our personal injury law firm, TorHoerman Law (THL). Having garnered success leading the pharmaceutical branch at the Simmons firm, Tor amicably decided to split from Simmons in 2009 and start his own pharmaceutical and personal injury practice called TorHoerman Law, LLC (THL). After negotiating the terms of the split, Tor struck a deal that allowed him to bring his entire staff from Simmons to his new practice, which summed up to more than 25 lawyers and staff members.

In 2002, attorneys Andrew Hollis and Josh Wright joined together to form the Hollis Wright Law Firm. The two attorneys had one simple philosophy in starting the firm: to put clients first at the law firm and to work hard each and every day to protect the client’s interests by seeking compensation for the injuries they sustained. This goal has served them and the other attorneys at the firm incredibly well throughout the years and has helped them achieve some outstanding and fulfilling results. Hollis Wright has become one of the leading personal injury firms in the State of Alabama and has already established itself as a key law firm nationally in the area of mass torts. Our attorneys are aggressive, zealous advocates for the clients we represent. We are highly skilled in litigating and trying complex and contentious cases while always maintaining a sense of professionalism, integrity and respect for others. Our attorneys have literally tried or settled hundreds of million-dollar cases. However, our efforts are not only directed at achieving great monetary results for our clients. We understand that when you contact our firm, either you or a loved one has sustained an injury, oftentimes life altering. It is a time such as this that you need an attorney who will demonstrate compassion and take the time to truly understand your situation and the difficult challenges that you face. Our attorneys and staff members are dedicated to helping you through the litigation process and communicating with you about the developments in your case every step of the way.

Christopher M. Cromer is a practicing lawyer in the state of Alaska handling a variety of legal matters.

Attorney Jason F. Abraham began his career with Hupy and Abraham as a personal injury lawyer in Milwaukee in 1993 and was promoted to shareholder in 1999. Attorney Abraham's proficiency in handling personal injury matters attracts clientele from across the nation. He has settled or tried personal injury cases with a combined value of approximately $400 million and resolved many cases for over one million dollars each. His expertise in personal injury matters has granted him lecturing opportunities in numerous states across the nation.