Finch McCranie, LLP

Employer Liability For The Acts of Employees

Under Georgia law, employers are vicariously liable for the acts of the employees provided such acts are performed within the scope of their employment. If an employee is working on behalf of an employer and is acting within the scope of his or her duties, an employer will be liable if the employee negligently injuries a third party. The reasons for such liability are due to the fact that the injury arose out of and was caused by the performance of duties being performed on
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Mediating Personal Injury Claims

In a case where an innocent victim is victimized by the negligence of a third party, whether it be as a result of the negligent acts of a truck driver or due to medical malpractice committed by a doctor, a question often arises: Should a claimant in such a case consider mediation as a way of resolving their claims against the negligent defendant? Experience indicates that mediation is successful approximately eighty percent (80%) of the time so logic would dictate that all serious personal injury
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Cadillac Recalls SRX Vehicles

The Georgia injury lawyers at Finch McCranie, LLP have represented victims of dangerous products for over 40 years. These products which range from defective automobiles to defective humidifiers can cause serious injury or even death if they malfunction after being purchased by the innocent consumer.
Just last week, General Motors recalled over 4000 2010 Cadillac SRX crossover vehicles because of power steering problems. According to the company, power steering fluid could leak, causing a fire in the engine compartment. All of these cars were manufactured in 2009.
Although this may not seem like a significant problem, it could potentially be very dangerous if the vehicle were to catch on fire after being parked in a home garage or carport. Ford Motor Company found out they had significant exposure when Ford F series trucks with defective cruise control switches caused such fires. Those fires lead to a recall by Ford.

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Employer Liability for Employee Acts: Who Decides?

In a case where an injured party brings a claim against a person who caused them injury and that person’s employer, a jury question is often present as to whether the negligent employee was acting within the scope of his or her employment at the time they inflicted the injury upon the innocent third party victim. As long as a disputed issue of material fact exists, only juries can determine whether an employee was acting within the scope of their employment and/or acting solely for
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Tire Failures Are The Cause Of Many Of Georgia’s Automobile and Truck Accidents

Georgia injury lawyers often see car accidents and truck accidents caused by tire failure. A tire failure can also be the precipitating event in a vehicle rollover case. The causes of these tire failures vary but include manufacturing defects, road hazards and failure to keep the tire properly inflated.

In any motor vehicle crash where a tire failure is suspected, it is crucial to preserve the vehicle and especially the tires and rims so that they can be inspected by experts. Georgia injury lawyers know experts who can timely inspect and evaluate the evidence and who can testify at trial, if necessary.

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Tractor-Trailer Truck Tire Tread On Georgia Highways Is A Growing Problem

Georgia injury lawyers have seen many serious automobile accidents, tractor-trailer accidents and motorcycle accidents caused by foreign objects and road debris on Georgia highways. Just a few weeks ago a 19 year old girl was killed in Tifton, Georgia when she collided with a tractor-trailer. Both vehicles were heading south on Interstate 75 when the girl swerved to avoid a piece of retread rubber in the roadway. After running off the roadway, she apparently over-corrected, came back onto the roadway and struck the tractor-trailer rig. This death should not have happened. Recently I got a call from the mother of the girl and we discussed the growing problem of road debris and in particular, large pieces of tractor trailer truck tire tread littering our highways.

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Offers Of Judgment: An Assault On The Civil Justice System

In Georgia there is a bad law on the books that was passed by the Republican dominated Legislature as part of its so-called effort at “tort reform.” We refer here to the provisions of O.C.G.A. § 9-11-68, the Georgia Offer Of Judgment statute. This statute provides that a party may make an offer of judgment to another party in a pending case in which the offering party agrees to settle the case for a specified sum. Thereafter, if the party to whom the offer is made fails to settle for the offer and later fails to obtain an award of at least seventy-five percent (75%) of the amount of the offer, then the party making the offer of judgment may petition the court for payment of its attorney’s fees from the date the offer was made until the less favorable award or loss.

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Georgia Couple Injured In Motorcycle Accident When Rear Tire Blew

Motorcycle riders are especially vulnerable to serious injury or death when involved in an accident with a careless driver. While many drivers fault the motorcyclist, we at the Finch McCranie firm know that most motorcycle operators are responsible, cautious individuals. Defective tires, or design problems with the motorcycle itself, can also cause a motorcyclist to crash. In such cases, the victims may have a viable products liabilty case against the manufacturer of the product.

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Cords On Window Blinds Continue To Kill

Cords on window blinds continue to kill an average of one child a month, despite a 16-year federal push to make them safer.
According to safety groups, a new voluntary industry rule on window blind cords does not address all strangulation risks to children and ignores input from consumer advocates.
The voluntary standard just published by the Window Covering Manufacturers Association (WCMA) prohibits accessible inner cords on Roman shades but still allows long draw cords. Inner cords weave between the slats of horizontal blinds or
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Premises Liability Cases In Georgia

Recently, the Georgia injury lawyers at Finch McCranie, LLP successfully represented an elderly woman who was injured while shopping in a large, nationwide department store. While walking towards a clothing display that caught her attention, she tripped and fell over an empty wooden shipping pallet which had been left in a main aisle. As a result of her fall, she sustained a serious back injury. When questioned under oath, the manager could not say how long the pallet had been there or even who placed it there. He conceded that the empty pallet was serving no purpose (having been emptied) and that it presented a potential danger to customers. He also conceded that warning cones should have been placed to warn customers of the potential danger.

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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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