Finch McCranie, LLP

Katrina Victims Lose To The Insurance Industry

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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Visibility Factors in Nightime Truck Accidents

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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Pedestrian Injury and Death in Atlanta, Georgia

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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Mandatory Arbitration Clauses Deprive Consumers of Basic Rights

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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MEDICAL MALPRACTICE IN GEORGIA

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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Reduction in Value: A Misnomer in the Wrongful Death Context

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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An Estate’s Claim in a Georgia Wrongful Death Case

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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Proving Non-Economic Damages in a Wrongful Death Case

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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Suing Drunk Drivers for Punitive Damages

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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Proving Economic Damages in a Wrongful Death Case

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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E-coli Tainted Lettuce Recalled

An outbreak of 19 E-coli related illnesses in Michigan, Ohio and New York may be linked to shredded romaine lettuce sold to grocery stores for use in salad bars and delis, according to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Yesterday, the FDA announced a recall of the potentially dangerous produce.
Escherichia coli (abbreviated as E. coli) are a large and diverse group of bacteria. Although most strains of E. coli are harmless, others can be extremely harmful. Strains of E. coli can cause diarrhea, urinary
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Death Linked to Defective Cribs

Yesterday, the Associated Press reported that on Thursday of this week the government recalled thousands of baby cribs manufactured by Simplicity and Graco, after warning that babies could suffocate or strangle in them. Apparently the problem with both types of cribs relates to faulty or defective hardware. According to the article, the Consumer Product Safety Commission said the Simplicity crib recall was linked to at least one death and it involved thousands of cribs. The recall involving Simplicity products is for all full-sized cribs

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Clients Deserve Better And So Do Lawyers

Last night after a long day at work I went home and decided to browse local television shows. In so doing, I came across a program entitled “American Greed.” The topic of the program I was watching was extremely disappointing to me but regrettably a symptom of modern day society. The program dealt with greedy lawyers who were stealing from their clients. I watched the program in amazement because the greed of these lawyers was utterly fantastic and extremely disappointing to me as a plaintiff’s
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Health Insurer Targets Women With Breast Cancer For Denial Of Coverage

Our Atlanta lawyers constantly receive calls from consumers who have had their health insurance companies refuse to pay for necessary treatment or have had their insurance cancelled after they become sick. A recent report has reveled that WellPoint, the nation’s largest health insurer, has aggressively targeted women with breast cancer with the intent of canceling their health insurance policies.
Reuters news service cited federal investigators and regulators as a source of this information. According to the report, WellPoint has used a computer program to automatically
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Suing Government Officials In Georgia

Most members of the public do not realize that it is very difficult to sue a government official. As long as government officials are acting within the scope of their discretionary authority, they are typically immunized by law from legal liability for mistakes they make, even including claims involving negligence, gross negligence and/or recklessness. The main exception to this rule typically involves the operation of automobiles for which there has been a statutory waiver of sovereign immunity in Georgia. There are, however, other limited exceptions
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How To Reduce Medical Malpractice Claims

Medical malpractice became a hot button issue in the recent healthcare debate. Many politicians, healthcare workers, and large insurers argued that medical malpractice cases are a large contributor to the rising cost of healthcare in the United States. Even though this line of argument has been consistently proven to be false, it was constantly brought up buy opponents of healthcare reform.
There is a better way to reduce the number of medical malpractice cases without sacrificing innocent victims who have been maimed due to
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Food Safety

The safety of the United States food supply is a vital interest of all citizens. The recent deadly outbreaks of salmonella poisoning in peanuts, spinach, and other foods has brought the lack of safeguards in the food supply chain to the forefront.
A new report by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s inspector general, released last week, documents an outdated and ineffective federal food safety program with too few inspectors, too skimpy legal authority and too little funding.
Faced with the reality of overseas food-processing
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Police Pursuit Policies Changed: More Changes Needed

Finch McCranie has been representing innocent victims caught up in police chases for over a decade. While the police should chase violent felons who are endangering the public, many of these cases involve chases where the police are pursuing non-violent or mere traffic offenders at high speeds with the end result being a third party killed or injured, caught up by happenstance in the dangerous pursuit. We have long advocated that the police should pursue violent offenders where the risk of the chase to
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High Chair Recall

Our Atlanta product liability lawyers see many cases involving defective products which cause injury. None are more disturbing than those involving children. There have been 24 reported injuries of children involving Graco Harmony highchairs. In an effort to avoid further injuries Graco Children’s Products announced Thursday that it is recalling 1.2 million Harmony highchairs because of stability issues.
The company makes car seats, strollers, swings and other products for kids. It reported that that its Harmony highchairs can be unstable and tip over. The highchair
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PEDS Wire Hunt to Continue

In February of 2006, John Lamb was killed when a bicycle he was riding became entangled with hazardous utility wires which draped across a city sidewalk. Mr. Lamb did not see the wires that were still attached to the utility pole until it was too late. Unfortunately, he was thrown from his bicycle, landed on his head, broke his neck and was killed.
This spring, PEDS, a pedestrian safety advocacy group located in Atlanta, will be conducting the Second Annual John Lamb Hazardous Wire Hunt.
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