Mass Torts Other

Greg Jones is the founder of Greg Jones Law, P.A. and is licensed to practice law in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Texas. He has offices in both North Carolina and Puerto Rico often associating with other top trial lawyers across the nation in order to get his clients the best representation possible. He focuses his practice on plaintiff personal injury litigation involving product liability claims against pharmaceuticals and medical device manufacturers. He is an active member in a number of local, state and national trial lawyers associations and frequently travels to conferences and lectures, where he consults with other attorneys regarding personal injury representation.

Jeff Benton founded The Benton Law Firm in Dallas, Texas to fight for individuals who had have been harmed due to the wrongdoing of others. Often times, Jeff encounters defendants who believe they can overwhelm their opponents with their superior resources and societal status—Jeff is a personal injury and truck accident attorney in Dallas, TX devoted to disabusing them of this misconception. Jeff firmly believes that through hard work and attention to detail he can achieve great things for his clients and strives to do so every day. As set forth in the “Recent Case Results” page, Jeff has represented clients in numerous successful personal injury cases. He has also had a great deal of success in cases that other attorneys refused to pursue, making recoveries on behalf of clients whose cases were dropped by the attorney they originally hired. In 2013, Jeff was honored with the Dallas Trial Lawyers Association’s John Howie award for the courageous pursuit of justice in the face of adversity. As a Dallas personal injury lawyer, Jeff’s practice focuses on premises liability, motor vehicle accidents, workplace injuries, wrongful death and other personal injury matters. The Benton Law Firm is also actively investigating claims involving prescription drugs such as Actos, Lipitor and Zoloft. In addition to personal injury matters, Jeff handles a select number of commercial matters on a contingent fee, including breach of contract, business tort and deceptive trade practices cases. Prior to forming The Benton Law Firm, Jeff practiced at Locke Lord LLP, a full-service, international law firm with more than 700 attorneys. He graduated from the University of Houston Law Center, where he served on the Houston Law Review. Following graduation from law school, Jeff clerked for Judge Andrew S. Hanen in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas. Jeff is a member of the Editorial Board, and an Assistant Editor, for the State Bar Litigation Section Report. He also lectured as an adjunct professor of business law at The University of Texas at Brownsville.

The George Bochanis Injury Law Offices was established in 1985. Before opening his office, Mr. Bochanis spent years representing major insurance companies in litigation cases and prior to that was a law clerk to a prominent local district court judge. Our offices have grown from a small one person setting to having its own well known office location on South Ninth Street in Downtown Las Vegas with 15 employees. Over the past 28 years of practice, Mr. Bochanis has helped thousands of locals and tourists who have had their lives disrupted and sometimes ruined as a result of the carelessness and negligence of others. We have represented the widest range of clients, from high profile wrongful death cases to those who were able to recover from their harms and losses in a short period of time. Our previous clients are our main referral source of new clients because of our efforts and the results we get for them. Mr. Bochanis is the past president of the Nevada Trial Lawyers Association/Nevada Justice Association and has served on its Board of Governors since 1995. He holds the highest AV rating from Martindale-Hubbell National Law Directory for every year since 2000. We have also just been awarded the Martindale-Hubbell Client Distinction Award which is received by less than 1% of the 900,000 attorneys listed on martindale.com and lawyers.com. He has also received other top lawyer ratings from other national and local sources such as the American Trial Lawyers Association, Super Lawyers and MyLasVegas Magazine. Mr. Bochanis is also involved in many community and church activities and organizations in Las Vegas and Henderson. In an ongoing effort to help the community, the law office offers an annual $5,000 need-based scholarship. But even with all the awards and recognition our law firm has received, our proudest accomplishments are the testimonials and referrals from our past clients whom we have been able to help during their difficult times.

Ryan is a Houston personal injury lawyer who’s recovered the largest verdicts and settlements in history for clients who were catastrophically injured, seriously burned, and tragically killed across Texas, Louisiana, New Mexico and the United States. His record-setting verdicts and settlements have received national media attention, distinguished Ryan as one of the top personal injury lawyers in the country, and qualified him for lifetime membership in both the “Million Dollar Advocates Forum” and the “Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum,” organizations limited to less than 1% of the top trial lawyers in the country. In recognition of these and his firm’s many other accomplishments, Zehl & Associates was one of only two law firms in the United States to be consecutively selected as the 2020, 2021, and 2022 “Personal Injury Law Firm of the Year” by Law.com and The National Law Journal. Ryan has been featured on the cover of Texas Super Lawyers magazine (a Thompson Reuters publication), voted as one of the top 100 personal injury lawyers in Texas by the National Trial Lawyers Association, and selected as a “Texas Super Lawyer” and “Rising Star” every year since 2009. After graduating in the top 5 percent of his law school class, Ryan worked as a briefing attorney for Justice Scott Brister of the Texas Supreme Court. When his term with the Supreme Court expired, Ryan joined Gardere’s litigation and appellate group, where he quickly distinguished himself as an aggressive trial lawyer in complex commercial and personal injury cases. Ryan has been interviewed on CNN, Fox & Friends, Good Morning America and news outlets throughout Texas and appeared in almost every major newspaper across the world, including the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, the International Herald Tribune, Bloomberg, the Houston Chronicle, and the Dallas Morning News.

After years of legal work, attorney Brent Adams realized the area of law closest to his heart was representing ordinary, everyday people who had been hurt through no fault of their own. That’s why Brent Adams & Associates only represents people who suffered injuries as the result of someone else's wrongdoing – as well as the families of victims who suffered severe or fatal injuries. Attorney Adams has been active in the North Carolina legal community throughout his entire career as a trial lawyer and has been recognized by his peers as an outstanding attorney. He has an Avvo rating of 10 out of 10. His Avvo rating includes more than 15 peer endorsements and several client reviews. He is a member of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum, an honor held by fewer than 1% of trial lawyers. He is also the author of several books, including: “The Truth About Medical Malpractice Claims,” “How to Get Top Dollars For Your Workers' Comp Claim” and “Ten Costly Mistakes That Can Wreck Your North Carolina Case.” Our office makes these books available to all injured persons, whether they are clients or not. He completed both his undergraduate and Juris Doctorate degrees at Wake Forest University School of Law. Ready to fight for clients Attorney Adams has served on the boards of the Wake County Bar Association and the North Carolina Academy of Trial Lawyers, eventually elected Secretary-Treasurer and Vice President of each, respectively. He was chosen to serve as the State Representative to the Association of Trial Lawyers of America, the largest trial lawyer organization in the world. In an effort to share his knowledge with other attorneys, attorney Adams frequently lectures at trial lawyer groups. He has spoken at legal seminars sponsored by the North Carolina Bar Association, The Association of Trial Lawyers of America, Wake Forest University, The North Carolina Academy of Trial Lawyers, as well as the prestigious Melvin M. Belli Seminar. Before concentrating on exclusively representing injured victims, Adams successfully represented banks, insurance companies and individuals on cases ranging from murder, rape, drugs and white collar criminal cases to lawsuits involving real estate, business contracts, bankruptcy and tax matters. A dedicated family man, attorney Brent Adams knows the importance of family and protecting the rights of our dearest friends and loved ones. He represents people, not banks, businesses or insurance companies. Attorney Adams is happy to put his experience to work for those who were injured because of something that wasn't their fault.

Craig has been a protecting consumers’ rights nationwide for more than 15 years, focusing his practice on lawsuits brought under consumer-protection statutes like the Fair Credit Reporting Act. He helps consumers enforce their rights regarding not only the inaccuracies that pervade credit and background-check reports, but also as to reporting companies’ and employers’ failures to abide by the law in selling and using those reports. He also has represented clients with problems relating to identity theft, mortgages, and disputes with auto sellers and finance companies. Litigating mainly class-action cases, Craig has represented thousands of consumers in successfully obtaining millions in benefits for class members and has been appointed class counsel by numerous courts across the country. He is licensed to practice law in four states, and maintains a national practice. As a member of the National Association of Consumer Advocates, Craig assists in educating other lawyers on all aspects of consumer litigation, from discovery, to raising and briefing key issues, and through settlement value and case resolution. He also serves as NACA’s Chair for Virginia, a position he has held since 2018. Before joining Consumer Litigation Associates, Craig practiced complex and class-action litigation for ten years at one of the country’s most-successful boutique firms. There, he developed extensive knowledge of the FCRA as well as class-action procedure, having handled nearly every aspect of consumer class actions from intake, to drafting complaints and discovery, successfully defeating dispositive motions, obtaining class certification, valuing cases, and negotiating settlements.

Seth McCloskey is a dedicated trial lawyer who has made a career out of seeking justice for victims of negligence, particularly when a large company’s conduct is the root cause of his client’s injuries. Seth is one of only a handful of lawyers in Texas with a national Board Certification in Truck Accident Law. Additionally, Mr. McCloskey is one of the even fewer number of lawyers across the nation with Board Certifications in both Truck Accident Law and Personal Injury Trial Law. During law school, Seth quickly developed his niche for trial work and secured a place on the coveted Trial Advocacy Team. He was also a moot court Appellate Advocacy Finalist. Seth won several awards and recognitions as a top-speaker and oral advocate at competitions across the state. Since becoming a lawyer in 2009, Mr. McCloskey has successfully tried more than 200 cases to verdict. During the years he served as a state prosecutor, Seth found that standing for what is right regardless of the stakes is the only way that justice can be obtained, and the only way a litigator should fight. Seth has dedicated his career to fighting large trucking companies, insurance carriers, and others whose negligent conduct, policies, and employees injure or kill the innocent citizens of our state. Seth McCloskey treats every case he takes with the same tenacity and conviction – seeking justice for those who otherwise would have no voice or recourse against the powerful resources of the insurance industry. Seth has been recognized as a Super Lawyer- Rising Star by Thomson Reuters and has been selected by the National Trial Lawyers Association as Top 40 attorney. He has been featured in Texas Monthly Magazine and has been interviewed by news media outlets for his specialized knowledge in civil litigation and investigations. Seth frequently writes legal education papers and presents to various groups of legal professionals, including truck accident attorneys, paralegals, and industry professionals across the country. He is a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates, the Academy of Truck Accident Attorneys, the National Board of Trial Advocacy, the Texas Bar College, and the Texas Board of Legal Specialization.

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.

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.

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.