PBI Press Publishes Scott Cooper's Book On Civil Depositions

Posted on Feb 05, 2013

PBI Press Publishes Schmidt Kramer Injury Lawyer Scott Cooper’s Book On Civil Depositions: A to Z of Civil Depositions

To order the book go to the link below.

https://www.pbi.org/

Mr. Cooper is a partner in the firm of Schmidt Kramer in Harrisburg, where he specializes in personal injury law with an emphasis on motor vehicle accident and insurance cases. An active member of the Pennsylvania Association for Justice (PAJ), Mr. Cooper serves as its 2012–2013 president. He is also chair of its Legislative Policy Committee and serves on both the Executive Committee and Board of Governors. In both 2011 and 2012, Mr. Cooper was named by Pennsylvania Super Lawyers as one of the top 100 lawyers in the state. In 2008, Mr. Cooper was honored by PAJ and was awarded its prestigious Milton D. Rosenberg Award for leadership and efforts for victims’ rights. In 2005, Mr. Cooper received the association’s prestigious George F. Douglas Amicus Curiae Award for outstanding appellate advocacy. In addition, Mr. Cooper was selected as a Pennsylvania Super Lawyer in 2006 and 2011 and a Pennsylvania Super Lawyer Rising Star in 2005.

He was also voted “Reader’s Choice Attorney” by Harrisburg magazine. Mr. Cooper was a contributing editor for the second and third editions of the leading treatise on the Pennsylvania Motor Vehicle Financial Responsibility Law, Pennsylvania Motor Vehicle Insurance: An Analysis of the Financial Responsibility Law.

He has been involved in and argued many significant appellate cases, including Rupert v. Liberty Mutual, Prudential v. Colbert, Mullin v. Commonwealth, Richmond v. Prudential, L.S. v. Eschbach, Ricks v. Nationwide, Wirth v. Aetna, Nott v. Aetna, Blood v. Old Guard, Sackett v. Nationwide, Everhart v. PMA, State Farm v. Rosenthal, Craley v. State Farm, Erie v. Baker, Orsag v. Farmers, Generette v. Donegal, GEICO v. Ayers, Heller v. League of Cities, Smith v. Rohrbaugh.

Mr. Cooper is a member of the American Association for Justice (AAJ) and the Pennsylvania and Dauphin County Bar Associations. He received his J.D. from Widener University School of Law (1993) and his B.A. from the University at Albany (1990).

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$4,034,000.00 Personal Injury
Yesterday a Judge in Union County (Lewisburg, PA) awarded a couple from New Berlin, Pennsylvania, over $4,000,000 because the husband was shot while turkey hunting.You might ask yourself, how does a turkey hunting accident end up with that type of verdict? In order to understand the verdict you would have to know our clients. They are good people who had their life wrecked. Plus, you would have to know the defendant, who should not have been hunting with a gun because he was prohibited after a previous criminal conviction.It is a good verdict, because the Judge was able to do two things with his decision. First, he communicated to two very good people that their losses were something that those of us on the outside could appreciate and value. Mike Hobbins (our client) is a 51 year old guy who lost his sight because a convicted felon --who should not have even possessed a gun-- went hunting illegally, and broke with impunity the most fundamental rule in hunting: identify your target before you pull the trigger. The Judge accepted the financial loss Mr. Hobbins' suffered, but listened closely to the evidence of less tangible losses. When Mike broke down on the stand, because his daughter would end up walking him down the aisle at her wedding, as opposed to how it was supposed to go, the Judge was listening. When Mike could not keep it together, because of how emasculating it was for him not to be able to provide financially for his family, the Judge was listening. It was facts like these that the Judge cited to support the $2,000,000 award for non-economic damages. Second, the Judge wanted to send a message. Union County is a hunting county. Many of the residents hunt there, and people from outside the area come to Union County to hunt. It was my impression, from the Judge's statements as he rendered his decision, that he wanted to send a message to the people in Union County to protect them in their sport. The rules in place to restrict people convicted of crimes not to have a gun are not to be broken. Hunting is serious and you have to identify your target before you shoot. When you turn your back on the rules that are set to provide safety in a sport, you risk being an example. Here, the $1,000,000 punitive damage award sends that message loud and clear.When it really comes down to brass tacks, the right action was taken against a Defendant who may never truly appreciate what kind of impact his reckless choices caused.At Schmidt Kramer, we are injury lawyers. That means we work with people who were hurt in car accidents, who were hurt by the neglect of nursing homes, or those that were seriously injured because of the reckless, thoughtless acts of others. If you or a loved one have been injured in Pennsylvania, we may be able to help. While the verdict yesterday is not one that is representative of every case we do, it does show that serious and dedicated representation can bring good results.Joe ChapmanJanuary 18, 2013
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$1,200,000.00 Personal Injury
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