A recent study by The Clinical Spine Surgery looked at why VA doctors continue to operate on the wrong part of the spines of veterans. The Veterans Administration says that 32 of these spinal surgery medical mistakes occurred between 2000 and 2017. Operating on the wrong part of the spine can cause extensive long-term damage to patients. For starters, the patients normally will need two follow-up operations. The first is to correct, if possible, any [...]

Different types of accidents or negligence can cause someone to lose part or all a limb – or several limbs. Car, truck, and motorcycle accidents can cause a victim to lose an arm, leg, or other body part due to the force of the vehicles on impact and being thrown about the car. Riders can also lose a limb by being thrown out of the vehicle or onto the asphalt. Infections are another common reason [...]

Merkel & Cocke, P.A. is proud to announce that Charles M. Merkel III has been named to the 2019 Best Lawyers in America list for his work in Medical Malpractice Law – Plaintiffs. Mr. Merkel has been named to the list every year since 2012. Best Lawyers is the foremost peer-reviewed awards process in the country. Every year, lawyers from throughout the country are nominated for their work in 145 different areas of practice. Once [...]

Merkel & Cocke, P.A. is proud to announce that our co-founder, John Hartwell Cocke, has been selected by his peers for recognition in the 25th Edition of the Best Lawyers in America as the 2019 “Lawyer of the Year,” for Medical Malpractice Law – Plaintiffs for Memphis! This is the fourth time he’s been named a Best Lawyers’ Lawyer of the Year in this region and this practice area, having earned the distinction in 2012, [...]

Merkel & Cocke is proud to announce that partner John H. Cocke was named to the 2017 Super Lawyers list for the Memphis area, for his work in the area of Plaintiffs’ Personal Injury and Medical Malpractice. This is Mr. Cocke’s 11th consecutive year being recognized for his work by Super Lawyers. Memphis Magazine listed Mr. Cocke, as well as partner Charles M. Merkel Jr. and firm member Charles Merkel III, in its December issue. [...]

Merkel & Cocke recently had the pleasure of helping a family gain some small amount of justice for the injuries they suffered due to a propane explosion at their home. The path to justice was not an easy one, and we salute the family for persevering through a very difficult and lengthy process. It has taken three years, but in the end they have obtained the compensation they deserved for the injuries they suffered. Their [...]

Merkel & Cocke is currently involved in a wrongful death case, representing the family of Mr. Irwin, a construction worker who was killed while working as an employee of a sub-contractor on a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers construction project. While performing work in the “clearing and grubbing” phase of the project, Mr. Irwin was killed when a large tree fell on the cab of the track hoe he was operating. Not only did Mr. [...]

Local attorney John Cocke with Merkel & Cocke was recently named this year's "Lawyer of the Year" for personal injury litigation-plaintiffs in the Memphis area. (Copyright 2015 by The Clarksdale Press Register). Read the article

The law firm of Merkel & Cocke is proud to announce that Charles M. Merkel, Jr., has received the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award from the Mississippi Association for Justice. Charles M. (Charlie) Merkel, Jr. has been a trial lawyer since 1966 when he graduated magna cum laude from the University of Mississippi School of Law. He was born and raised in Mississippi and attended the University of Mississippi for both his undergraduate and law degrees. [...]

John Cocke, a founding member of Merkel & Cocke, received the ‘Beyond The Call Of Duty’ award from the Mississippi Volunteer Lawyers Project (MVLP). The MVLP is a joint venture of The Mississippi Bar Association and Mississippi Legal Services Programs. More than 1,600 Mississippi attorneys volunteer their time and expertise to participate in the Project, and as a result, more than 5,000 low income citizens are assisted by the Project each year. The ‘Beyond The [...]