Finch McCranie, LLP

Nursing Home and Insurance Company Abuse of Elderly and Disabled

Our Atlanta based attorneys have and are litigating cases against nursing homes involving almost unspeakable abuses of elderly and vulnerable patients. These civil suits help uncover abuses by nursing home and insurance companies, according to a new report by the American Association for Justice.

“Where regulatory and legislative bodies have been unable to cope with this distressing rise of neglect and abuse of our elderly, the civil justice system has stepped into the breach,” said the AAJ President, in a statement accompanying the release of the report, “Standing Up For Seniors: How the Civil Justice System Protects Elderly Americans.”

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On-The-Job Accident Results In Death Of Georgia Worker

The Associated Press reported this week that 37 year old Jimmy Roubles of Augusta died in a construction accident when a trench caved in on him while he and a co-worker were installing pipes six feet underground. The article did not indicate whether this man was married or whether he had children. If he left dependants, they will be entitled to Georgia “death benefits” under the Georgia Workers’ Compensation Act; although the benefits are pitiful and limited.

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Motorcycle Accident In Henry County Involves Hit-And-Run Driver

Georgia injury lawyers know that motorcycle accidents often result in serious injuries and even death for the biker. Today WSBTV reported that a motorcyclist was severely injured as a result of a hit-and-run crash in Henry County. Justin Haynes, age 34, was struck at Fairview and East Atlanta Rd in Ellenwood by a female driving a black Toyota Highlander. According to police, the women stopped but then drove off.
Hit-and-run accidents are becoming more common in Atlanta. There is a 24 year old woman on trial this week who is accused of causing a collision which took the lives of several innocent people. In that case, the woman left the scene and was then assisted by her mother in attempting to cover it up.
Georgia law provides that if someone negligently injures or kills someone and there are aggravating circumstances involved, such as being intoxicated of leaving the scene and failing to render aid, the offending party may be liable for punitive damages.

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Inexcusable Surgical Mistakes Continue

Outrageous surgical “errors” continue to maim and kill patients throughout Georgia and the United states despite requirements that hospitals and doctors abide by a standard set of procedures to prevent surgical mistakes.
These errors include operating on the wrong patient or the wrong body part.
This inexcusable problem is highlighted in a new study in the Archives of Surgery. The data was drawn from an insurance database in Colorado that included 27,370 self-reported incidents from 6,000 physicians from 2002 to mid-2008. Doctors in the
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Remington Rifles Have Serious Defect

According to a recent CNBC report, Remington Model 700 rifles have a serious and deadly defect, that can cause the rifles to fire without pulling the trigger.
The danger is caused by a defective component in the trigger mechanism called the trigger connector. The system is known as the Walker Fire Control System and Remington is the only gun manufacturer which incorporates it in firearms.
The report revealed that the defect with the trigger connector is that is not bound to the actual trigger. As
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Burn Injuries

The Georgia injury lawyers at Finch McCranie, LLP have seen some horrible burn injuries over the years which have resulted from automobile accidents, truck accidents, use of dangerous products and on-the-job accidents. There are few injuries more serious than burns. Burns can all too often be fatal. Even for those who survive, the degree of pain that accompanies a burn is hard to imagine. The debridement of the dead skin, necessary to prevent infection, is one of the most painful treatments in all of medicine. On top of that, burns leave serious scars that last a lifetime and often cause physical restrictions which affect the quality of life.

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Graco Stroller Recall-Four Deaths Reported

The Georgia injury lawyers at Finch McCranie, LLP have seen many serious injuries and wrongful death caused by dangerous products. Last week the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) in Washington, announced that Graco, a company that specializes in making baby related merchandise, is recalling about 2 million strollers after receiving reports that four infants died in the strollers. They said the four infants became trapped inside the strollers and were strangled. The deaths occurred between 2003 and 2005. According to the announcement, the strollers being recalled are older versions of the Graco Quattro Tour and MetroLite strollers and travel systems, all made before 2007 and distributed by Graco Children’s Products Inc. of Atlanta.

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Workers’ Compensation Claims And Third Party Liability

When someone is injured on-the-job under Georgia law they are entitled to workers’ compensation benefits. These benefits will provide minimal payments for lost wages as well as reimbursement of any medical expenses arising out of the on-the-job injury. In exchange for these statutory benefits the employee may never sue the employer responsible for the on-the-job injury. In short, even if an employer is negligent and/or creates an unsafe situation for an employee, the employer cannot be sued, instead as a tradeoff for not being sued,
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Police Chase Cases And Sovereign Immunity

As we have blogged about on many occasions in the past, there are many unfortunate situations where third party innocent victims become involved in reckless and dangerous police chases. If the police are chasing a juvenile, a traffic offender or some other non-violent offender and while traveling at high speeds continues to chase the suspect under such dangerous conditions that they crash into an innocent third party, there should be legal liability for a reckless disregard of proper police procedure in this context. Indeed, under Georgia law, O.C.G.A. § 40-6-6 specifies that where there is evidence of a reckless disregard of proper police procedure in the decision to either initiate or continue a high speed pursuit, such reckless disregard can be the basis of liability against the police if an innocent third party is injured due to such recklessness. Notwithstanding the statute, it is commonplace in any case brought by an innocent victim against the police for the government entity involved to assert sovereign immunity as a defense.

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On-The-Job Deaths Decreased 47% In 2009

In the late 70’s and early 80’s while I was employed in the Georgia claims department of a major insurance company, we had a very significant number of workers compensation death cases. Part of the reason was that the company wrote alot of assigned risk business but another reason was that the economy was doing well. Construction was booming and there were lots of jobs, especially construction jobs. Recently released statistics demonstrate that this is not the case now..

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Assessing Damages In Serious Burn Injury Cases

Unfortunately, in the normal course of our law practice, we have encountered clients who have sustained serious burn injuries. These cases are always extremely painful for clients and oftentimes results in permanent disfigurement. Indeed, a burn injury is one of the most painful injuries anyone can sustain and unfortunately we have seen them arise in a variety of contexts, whether it be gasoline fires after automobile accidents, accidents within the home due to defective products and/or chemical burns sustained on the job.
One of
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Fatal Police Chase Results In Dismissal Of State Trooper

We read in this weekend’s news accounts that a Georgia State Patrol Trooper had been fired for failing to exercise “due regard” for the safety of the public while he was allegedly responding and on his way to aid another trooper involved in a high speed police chase on Interstate I-20. On New Years Eve, an innocent motorist was killed when this Georgia State Patrol Officer allegedly ran a red light and struck the vehicle occupied by the decedent.

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Another Police Chase Kills Another Innocent Person–the Wife of Atlanta Braves Trainer Jeff Porter

Too familiar is this week’s tragic story of how a police cruiser struck an innocent motorist and caused the death of Kathy Porter, wife of Atlanta Braves Head Athletic Trainer Jeff Porter.
Late Saturday afternoon, the Porters were among many fans driving to the Chick-fil-A bowl in downtown Atlanta–a short distance from the Braves’ home at Turner Field. A Georgia State Patrol cruiser–reportedly speeding on city streets to join a chase of a motorcyclist on I-20– crashed into the Porters’ Ford Expedition on the passenger
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The Importance of Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist Coverage

We have written prior entries in our blog about the importance of uninsured/ underinsured motorist coverage. The importance of such coverage was underscored this week when we were contacted by clients who had been hit by driver of a stolen vehicle. This is a classic case where the at fault driver will not have insurance coverage. In this particular case the innocent victim caught up in this collision did not have uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage. Obviously, the stolen vehicle had no insurance coverage which provided coverage
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How Do I know That I Have Received A Fair Settlement Offer In My Case

Defense attorneys and plaintiffs attorneys, alike, both have resources available to determine the fair value of a particular personal injury claim. Jury verdict research services exists which track jury verdicts throughout metropolitan Atlanta and indeed the entire state of Georgia. By tracking jury verdicts, one can determine what juries are giving for particular types of cases. Juries award so much for a broken leg, a broken back, a neck injury, a back sprain, a neck sprain, an amputation, etc. In short, there are a lot
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How Do I Choose a Personal Injury Attorney?

Many clients choose their personal injury attorneys by watching the television or looking at billboards. Unfortunately, this does not always result in a client choosing the right attorney for his or her case. The best way to choose an attorney for a personal injury case is to make sure that the attorney selected is competent, professional and experienced. It is also important that the client determine that the lawyer being chosen has the ability to present the case to a jury if the case cannot
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Quantifying Pain And Suffering In Personal Injury Cases

It is extremely difficult to quantify damages in a personal injury case. While medical bills can be totalled and lost wages calculated, trying to calculate damages for pain and suffering is a different matter. When one is out of work for months at a time suffering from back pain, as an example, the question is: how does one go about trying to determine what would constitute fair and reasonable compensation for the pain and suffering attendant to the injury? The longer one suffers, the
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Representing Crime Victims in Personal Injury Cases

Most of our clients are innocent victims of negligent acts. A person is sitting still at a stop sign and a driver negligently fails to stop in time rear-ending them and causing serious injuries. Another driver fails to yield right-of-way and crashes into the side of their vehicle. In both cases, a negligent act caused the injury to the innocent victim. In other cases, however, intentional torts are involved. A step-father molests a child. A man rapes a woman. A man kills someone else. In
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Atlanta Police Chase Ends In Crashes With Innocent Persons

This morning we were disturbed to hear of a police chase on Atlanta’s major street that ended in crashes with two innocent motorists.
In the Buckhead neighborhood this morning, a police pursuit of a reportedly stolen vehicle ended with a violent crash with two innocent drivers on Peachtree Road, near Peachtree Battle Ave. (near several elementary schools).
Witness accounts report that at least one innocent driver’s vehicle was propelled a long way after the impact, and we pray that the innocent motorists survived without serious
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Wrongful Death Cases Caused By Fire

Our office has been contacted on numerous occasions by individuals seeking restitution for the loss of a life of a loved one due to a house fire. In some cases the house fire may be caused by a malfunctioning device. In other cases the fire’s consequences may have been escaped had a smoke detector been functioning properly. In other cases, an electrical water heater may explode or there may be problems with a gas line or some other component of the house itself which causes
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