The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans ruled Aug. 2, 2007, in In re Katrina Canal Breaches Litigation, No. 07-30119, that property owners in New Orleans whose buildings were flooded as a result of levee breaches in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina cannot recover losses from their insurance companies because of the flood exclusions in their insurance policies. Thousands of policyholders of various insurance companies will be affected by the ruling and it is estimated that the policyholders may have to absorb losses
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The lack of visibility of large trucks on the road after dark is a major factor in many accidents which our lawyers have investigated. The scientific term used to describe this area of study is “conspicuity.” Conspicuity refers to the factors of (1) perceiving that something is on the dark road ahead, (2) identifying the object as a large truck, (3) appreciating the truck’s position and slower speed as a danger, and (4) stimulating you to take evasive maneuvers to avoid the imminent collision.
Many
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Atlanta has previously been identified as one of the most dangerous large metropolitan area in the country for pedestrians. Although statistics are not always accessible, in the calendar year 2001, for example, 64 pedestrians were reported killed in Atlanta. Throughout the State of Georgia, more than two-thirds (2/3) of pedestrian fatalities occurred on neighborhood streets, which helps explain why pedestrian injury is the second leading cause of death for children age 5 to 9. Another problem, particularly prevalent in Atlanta, are unsafe sidewalks. While the
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Get a credit card, buy a car, or sign up for a cellphone plan, and chances are, if you’re unhappy with your transaction, you won’t be telling your story to a judge. Many consumer contracts include unfair mandatory arbitration clauses that force individuals to go through arbitration, instead of civil court, if a dispute arises. Mandatory arbitration clauses tend to give companies, not the public, protection because the arbitration process can be costly and the time to make a case is limited.
Consumer lawyers contend
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In 2005, the Georgia General Assembly enacted the so-called “Tort Reform” Act which greatly affected medical negligence claims in the State of Georgia. The stated intent was to lower insurance rates for physicians and healthcare providers. However, while severely restricting the rights of individual citizens to seek redress in the Courts, and increasing the burdens on plaintiff’s lawyers, the insurance rates of healthcare providers have not decreased.
While the requirements of bringing a medical malpractice case and the standards for obtaining experts have been greatly
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Recognizing the time value of money, Georgia law requires that an award of damages representing a present compensation for any future pecuniary loss be reduced to its “present value.” In some ways this is common sense. If, as the result of a wrongful death, wages for the next 20 years have been lost, it is reasonable that such economic damages be reduced to present cash value in order for a present day award to be fair to both sides. A verdict is being returned today,
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Georgia law is unique in the context of a wrongful death action in that it divides a wrongful death claim into two parts. The first part, which we have previously blogged about, involves the rights of the survivors of the deceased to seek compensation for “the full value” of the life of the decedent. The second part of such a claim involves claims that the personal representative of the deceased may bring separately. This includes claims for funeral bills, medical bills which were incurred prior
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In a Georgia wrongful death case, it is important that the plaintiff establish all economic and non-economic damages caused by the wrongful death. Economic damages obviously include an analysis of how much income and wage was lost by the untimely demise of the decedent. Proving non-economic damages, however, does not involve an economic analysis but instead involves a presentation of the intangible components of the decedent’s life. In Georgia, in particular, it is important that a wrongful death claimant establish this aspect of “the full
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In Georgia, juries are not reluctant to impose punitive damages against drunk drivers. It is common knowledge that drunk driving is a grave danger to the motoring public. Anyone who gets behind the wheel after having consumed intoxicating drugs or beverages obviously poses a risk of danger to the public. In Georgia, many years ago, the Georgia Legislature limited the imposition of punitive damages in tort cases to $250,000.00. This limitation in punitive damage awards was part of a “tort reform” effort of the business
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In terms of a jury presentation, attorneys often disagree about the best approach to demonstrate the economic losses caused by a wrongful death. If the decedent was a substantial wage earner who lost, not only substantial earnings, but also valuable fringe benefits such as 401(k), profit sharing and other similar benefits, one school of thought is to hire an economist who can project for a jury the lost income stream over the working life of the decedent (typically up to age 65 or 70) and
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