YOUR PERSONAL INJURY & TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY LAWYER

John E. Zydron earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Richmond in 1971, his Juris Doctorate from George Mason School of Law in 1977, and graduated from the United States Army Command and General Staff College in 1986.
John E. Zydron handles personal injury cases in VA & NC and concentrates on auto accidents, including tractor trailer and motorcycle accidents; medical malpractice; cases of first impression(PI claims for unborn fetus); and criminal and traffic matters. His clients often have serious injuries, to include: traumatic brain injuries, quadriplegic injuries, orthopedic injuries, and wrongful deaths.

Mr. Zydron served 32.5 years in the military and is a former Judge Advocate General of the Virginia National Guard.  He holds a retired grade of Brigadier General. He earned the U.S. Legion of Merit Medal, the Virginia National Guard Bronze Star, the U.S. Meritorious Service Medal, the U.S. Army Commendation Medal, and the U.S. Army Outstanding Achievement Medal.  He is the former Director and President of the Chesapeake Bar Association.  In 2014, Mr. Zydron was appointed as co-commissioner of the Virginia Marine Resource Commission for a four year term and he was reappointed in 2018 for another four year term.  Captain John E. Zydron is currently a United States Coast Guard U.S. Merchant Marine Officer.  He has been a licensed recreational charter captain since 2007.

Among his many accomplishments, John E. Zydron takes the most pride in being honored by Virginia Lawyer’s Weekly as one of 2016’s Virginia’s Leaders in the Law (Only 26 bar members out of 30,902 active members were selected for this prestigious award).  Attorney Zydron was honored to have been chosen for his outstanding accomplishments, including: reaching a $1,000,000.00 settlement in a case of first impression involving the deaths of a mother and her 7 month old unborn fetus (policy limits $500,000.00 per person/$1,000,000.00 per accident) under the 2012 amended Virginia Code Section 8.01-50B.  In 2016, Mr. Zydron was also pleased to have achieved the 7th highest reported settlement in Virginia at $3,750,000.00 for a case involving a truck striking a motorcycle.  Attorney Zydron has now been involved among the highest reported motorcycle crash cases in Virginia at $7,500,000.00, $3,750,000.00 and $2,500,00.00

Attorney Zydron was recently recognized by The National Trial Lawyers Association as a “Top 25 Brain Injury Trial Lawyer” (2018), a “Top 10 Nursing Home Lawyer” (2018), a “Top 10 Trucking Trial Lawyer” (2018), and previously a “Top 100 Trial Lawyer” (2012-2021);  From 2015-2020, attorney Zydron was honored with the  “Nation’s Top One Percent” designation by The National Association of Distinguished Counsel; From 2009-2021, attorney Zydron was recognized as a Super Lawyer by SuperLawyers.com;  attorney Zydron was mentioned in the Richmond Magazine Super Lawyer’s “Top Attorneys in Virginia” section (2009-2021);  LexisNexis Martindale-Hubbell awarded attorney Zydron with the Client Distinction Award by earning a client review rating score of 4.5 or higher on a scale of 1-5.  Less than 1% of the 900,000 attorneys listed on martindale.com and lawyers.com receive this award.  Having been accorded this Martindale-Hubbell honor of distinction, Mr. Zydron has an “AV” peer rating by Martindale-Hubbell, which is the highest peer rating that an attorney can obtain; Mr. Zydron also received the “Premier 100” designation from The American Academy of Trucking Attorney’s in 2015. There are over 1.2 million attorneys in the United States and less than 1% is selected to receive the AATA “Premier 100” designation; and The National Academy of Personal Injury Attorneys, Inc. selected attorney Zydron as one of the “Top 10 Personal Injury Attorneys in Virginia”. In 2017, Mr Zydron was selected as a Leader in the Law by the Virginia Lawyers Weekly out more than 30,000 lawyers in Virginia. In 2019, Mr. Zydron was inducted into the Virginia Lawyers Hall of Fame.

Mr. Zydron is a proud member of the American Bar Association, the Virginia Bar Association, the North Carolina Bar Association, the Chesapeake Bar Association, the Norfolk-Portsmouth Bar Association, and the Virginia Beach Bar Association.  He is also a member of the Virginia Trial Lawyer Association, North Carolina Advocates for Justice, American Association for Justice – Nursing Home Litigation Group, the Brain Injury Association of America, the Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group (2018), the Million Dollar Advocates Forum, the Association of Plaintiff Interstate Trucking Lawyers of America – National Advisory Board Member, the Brain Injury Association of Virginia, the American Academy of Trial Attorney’s, The Best Law Firms of America, Ru Rating Best Attorneys of America – Lifetime Charter Member, and Strathmore’s Who’s Who Worldwide member and listed in its’ hardcover Worldwide Edition. Mr. Zydron is also a member of the South Norfolk Ruritan Club and Theta Chi Fraternity.

Email John E. Zydron.

Max Frias

Maxime (Max) A. Frias was born in Newport, Rhode Island in 1953 and has resided in Norfolk-Virginia Beach since 1954 when his father, serving in the U.S. Navy was transferred back to Norfolk. Max received his education through the Norfolk Public School System attending Ocean View Elementary, Northside Junior High School and Granby High School where he graduated in 1971. He attended his freshman year at Virginia Commonwealth University but transferred to Old Dominion University so that he could help with his parent’s business of operating a Filipino grocery store which began in 1967. Max is proud that his parents had the vision and fortitude of operating their own grocery store, the first in this area. Max’s parents were able to send Max and his brothers and sisters to college. Max graduated summa cum laude from ODU in 1975 with a degree in political science. He attended the Marshall-Wythe School of Law at the College of William and Mary and graduated in 1978. While attending law school Max was fortunate to intern at Bashara and Hubbard. Upon graduation from law school, Max worked as an associate at Bashara and Hubbard for six years. In 1984, Max made the move to go into solo practice. He moved in with Edgar T. Ramos, esquire in Virginia Beach where they practiced law together for over twenty years. Max no longer practices law in the Commonwealth of Virginia and does not have license to practice law from the Virginia State Bar. In May 2010, Max came to work at Bennett and Zydron, P.C. as a paralegal. Max continues his paralegal work at The Zydron Law Firm, P.L.L.C.

Max is proud to have served the community as a legal advisor to many Filipino-American organizations, and as a member of the Second District Democratic Committee. In 2002, Max was appointed by Governor Mark Warner to the Board of Professional and Occupation Regulation and served as Chairman of the Board from 2006-2008.

Max is married to Angelina M. Frias, a physician with Roosevelt Family Medicine.  Max and Angie have one daughter, Nikki, who is graduating from Virginia Commonwealth University.

Max enjoys cooking, especially grilling and making salads. He continues to play golf, a passion that has consumed him since watching Arnold Palmer on television back in the sixties. One of these days he’ll get that hole-in-one.

Chery Seys

Chery Seys was born and raised in Belleville, New Jersey. She graduated from North Arlington High School in North Arlington, New Jersey. Growing up only 20 minutes away from New York City, and being able to overlook the city's skyline every day, she is a die-hard New York Giants fan and goes home yearly to attend the games. Chery joined the Navy in 1993 and was stationed in Pearl Harbor, HI on the USS Willamette, AO-180 for 4 years. Hawaii is where she started a family in 1997 and had her first born, Kaitlyn. In 1999 after moving to Everett, Washington, her son Colin was born. Finally in March of 2003 her youngest daughter Julia was born in Lake Forest, IL. The summer of 2003 Chery's family made the move to Virginia and never left. Chery was a military spouse for almost 18 years and her family was lucky enough to call Hampton Roads home, almost unheard of for a military family to live in one place for most of one's military career.

In 2005 Chery started taking paralegal classes at Kaplan University and earned her Associate of Applied Science - Paralegal Studies degree. Chery started at the Moody Law Firm, Inc., a law firm specializing in Asbestosis exposure to rail road employees. After 5 years, she worked in various firms specializing in family law and personal injury. One of the firms she worked at was a paperless firm. There she became proficient in a wide array of technological skills.

Chery stays current with new technologies and is willing to learn new skills and has become a valuable asset. In 2018 Chery joined The Zydron Law Firm, P.L.L.C. working in pre-litigation as well as performing in a legal administrative assistant capacity. In her spare time she spends time with family and her beloved malti-poo, Princeton. In recent years, Chery "accidently" became an owner of a hermit crab. She loved this crab so much she adopted 5 more. They require a lot of time and care and have very specific needs in order to live long lives. What started out as a "hobby" has now become a passion.

Leslie Harlan

Investigations provided by Harlan Investigation Group, LLC. Harlan Investigation Group, LLC is an Independent Contractor and is not owned nor controlled by The Zydron Law Firm, P.L.L.C. Leslie Harlan is not an employee of The Zydron Law Firm, P.L.L.C.

Leslie Harlan, is a Private Investigator licensed by the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Service and a native of Virginia Beach. Leslie comes armed with an extensive legal background, beginning over 35 years ago as a very eager, summer employee for the law firm of Judge Robert G. Doumar. (Doumar, Pincus, Knight., et als), later advancing to litigation paralegal, specializing in complex medical malpractice, product liability and personal-injury cases for the late Thomas J. Harlan, Jr.

Leslie has the experience. As a former complex litigation paralegal specialist, Leslie conducted witness interviews, assisted in depositions, in the courtroom, and shared in the celebration of verdicts and settlements against defendant Giants such as:  Sikorsky Aircraft, Cessna, Ford, Sherwin-Williams, DuPont, as well as against doctors and hospitals locally and across the United States, as well as against countless careless drivers.

Leslie remains eager to this day on every case. She is dynamic, approachable, creative and fearless when it comes to locating and talking to witnesses, as well as obtaining much-needed information. Leslie has keen skills in getting the most difficult people to talk about the most difficult things. Her prior experience, now coupled with her years of proven research and investigative skills, make Leslie the perfect fit when we need an Investigator. Her rapport with clients, witnesses, State and Local Police, VDOT, EMT’s State Highway Commission, etc., makes her an invaluable asset to this firm.