Oxford, MS

Charles M. Merkel, Jr.

For more than 40 years, Mr. Merkel has personally delivered more than 400 jury presentations in the representation of personal injury victims whose cases involved complex medical and technical injury mechanisms and causation problems. After graduating magna cum laude from the University of Mississippi School of Law in June 1966, Mr. Merkel accepted an appointment under the U.S. Department of Justice Honors Program and served for 4 years in the tax division of the Department of Justice in a refund trial section, trying tax refund cases in the U.S. District Courts over a five-state area. In October 1970, Mr. Merkel returned to his native Mississippi, accepting a position with the firm of Sullivan, Dunbar & Smith. In 1973, he was involved in the formation of the firm of Holcomb, Dunbar, Connell & Merkel, where he was involved primarily in litigation until the spring of 1982, when Mr. Merkel and Mr. Cocke formed Merkel & Cocke, P.A. for the purpose of handling complex plaintiff's litigation with emphasis in medical malpractice, product liability, toxic torts, drug reactions, brain damage cases, and in general, all catastrophic personal injury cases. Mr. Merkel has received multiple jury awards ranging from $1 million to $20 million, and many more million-dollar settlements. He is active in trial lawyer activities and is a frequent lecturer on trial technique and advocacy, appearing at seminars sponsored by the Mississippi State Bar, Mississippi Association for Justice, American Board of Trial Advocates, and others. Mr. Merkel, a former college baseball player at Ole Miss, is a sports enthusiast and lifelong Ole Miss and NY Yankees fan. He enjoys playing golf and traveling with his wife and children, and is an avid duck hunter and outdoorsman.

Charles M. Merkel, III

Charles M. Merkel, III was born and raised in Clarksdale, MS. He attended the University of Mississippi for his undergraduate and law degrees, graduating with honors both times. While at Ole’ Miss as an undergraduate, he was awarded the Taylor Medal for English; this is the University’s highest academic honor, awarded to fewer than 1% of the student body. Upon graduation, he received the coveted position as a judicial law clerk for US District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi, Jackson Division. Mr. Merkel joined Merkel & Cocke, P.A. in 2002, where he works with clients who have sustained serious injuries because of negligence, medical malpractice and defective products. Mr. Merkel is a former board member of North Mississippi Rural Legal Services, and a member of St. George’s Episcopal Church. He is an avid outdoorsman and hunter, and spends his free time with his family.

Don Barrett

Don Barrett is a managing partner at Barrett Law Group, P.A., focusing on product liability, consumer fraud, antitrust, and class actions. He was admitted to the Mississippi Bar in 1969 and has received honors such as an AV rating by Martindale-Hubbell and being named a Fellow of the Mississippi Bar Foundation. He was also recognized as a National Trial Lawyer of the Year by Public Justice in 2019.

Clark Monroe

An experienced trial lawyer with a practice spanning truck accident casualty defense, transportation insurance coverage, employment status, cargo and freight claims, and transportation regulatory matters. In addition to the defense of bodily injuries specific to trucking, I routinely handle a wide variety of commercial litigation, construction liability, construction defect, premises liability and medical transport claims. Practice areas also include FLSA collective actions and employment law.

David C. Dunbar

David Dunbar's practice focuses on commercial trucking accidents, professional errors and omissions, insurance and products defense, and commercial litigation. He is admitted to practice in Mississippi and in Georgia. He is also admitted to practice in the U.S. District Courts for the Northern and Southern Districts of Mississippi, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Mr. Dunbar is AV Rated by Martindale-Hubbell. Mr. Dunbar received his B.A. in history in 1982 from Emory University where he was a member of Omicron Delta Kappa. He received his J.D. in 1985 from the University of Georgia where he served on the editorial staff of the Georgia Law Review. He is a member of the Federation of Insurance and Corporate Counsel, American College of Transportation Attorneys, the Trucking Industry Defense Association, the Transportation Lawyers Association, the Mississippi Trucking Association, and the Defense Research Institute. Mr. Dunbar is certified in Truck Accident Law by National Board of Trial Advocacy. Mr. Dunbar is an approved mediator for State and Federal trial courts and has successfully completed the Harvard Law School Mediation Workshop. He served as a commissioner for the State of Mississippi to the National Conference of Uniform State Law Commissioners (1996- 2000) and served on the Drafting Committee for the Uniform Mediation Act for the Uniform Law Commission. Mr. Dunbar has served as the firm's managing partner since its inception.

David D. O'Donnell

David D. O'Donnell is a member attorney with more than 37 years of experience in employment, partnership disputes, construction litigation, Constitutional law, voting rights and redistricting, product liability, public entity, and insurance litigation. His practice areas include construction litigation, partnership disputes, ERISA, contract and business litigation, employment defense, constitutional law, voting rights and redistricting litigation, product liability, and insurance coverage law. He is a former federal law clerk and author of 'Mississippi Automobile Insurance Law and Practice'. He is also an Adjunct Faculty member at the University of Mississippi School of Law.

John Hartwell Cocke

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.