ATLANTA,GA
DULUTH, GA
We read last week about another tragic ending to a police chase case in Atlanta on January 15, 2009. Unlike many other such matters where the death is not worth it from a societal standpoint, this case appears to be an example where the dangers to the public caused by the police chase were warranted under the unique circumstances involved.
(more…)The injury lawyers in our firm have seen over the years that bicycle-car accidents can have serious consequences for the cyclist and often involve death or, at a minimum serious personal injury. A recent verdict demonstrates the kind of traumatic injuries that can occur in a bicycle-car collision. In that case, a jury returned a $1.8 million verdict in a personal injury case brought by a college student. She was seriously injured in 2005 when she was struck by 2 vehicles at an
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At least every week the Atlanta media carries a story concerning a wreck in which alcohol and drunk driving are a factor. The lawyers at Finch McCranie LLP see entirely too many cases in which alcohol or drunk driving cause serious injuries and death. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, NHTSA, recently released data concerning alcohol impaired driving for the year 2007. This is the latest year in which the data has been collected and analyzed. The figures are frightening.
(more…)As Georgia personal injury lawyers we have represented many people who have died or sustained serious injuries as a result of falling. Many of them are senior citizens and many of the accidents are a result of dangerous conditions caused by the negligence of stores, restaurants and other businesses. Although the elderly most fear breaking a hip when they fall, a government study indicates that hitting their head can also have deadly consequences. Brain injuries account for half of all deaths from falls.
The
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The Atlanta based lawyers with Finch McCranie LLP frequently receive calls about children injured by products specifically designed for their use. Last Thursday, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, CPSC, recalled 200,000 potentially deadly Fisher-Price’s Rainforest play yards.
Approximately 1,350 people had complained to the CPSC that one or both sides of the Rainforest play yard had collapsed. There were numerous reported injuries that included a broken nose, a mild concussion and a broken wrist. The play yards are often used as portable cribs and have a bassinet attachment. When the rails collapse, babies can fall out, get trapped or gain access to unsafe areas.
(more…)The current salmonella outbreak has a Georgia connection. The Food and Drug Administration announced yesterday that peanut butter and peanut paste made from ground roasted peanuts, manufactured in Peanut Corp.’s Blakely, Georgia, plant were found to contain the bacteria.
The FDA is advising consumers to not eat foods that contain peanut butter until they can be they are sure they do not contain salmonella contaminated products manufactured by the Peanut Corp. of America.
To date six deaths may have been connected to this salmonella outbreak,
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The Governor of Georgia has proposed legislation endorsing a system that the Government Accountability Office (GAO) castigated in a report issued yesterday. The GAO concluded that almost twenty years after Congress directed that all high-tech medical devices be subjected to a thorough review by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), before being placed on the market, the FDA still approves most such devices after minimal testing.
This report is especially timely since the Bush administration has long argued that FDA testing and approval shields the
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The Consumer Product Safety Commission announced that about 535,000 Stork Craft Baby Cribs have been recalled. These cribs pose an entrapment and suffocation risk. The CPSC has instructed customers to stop using the products immediately.
The cribs were made by Stork Craft Manufacturing Inc. and were manufactured and sold between May 2000 and November 2008. They came in a variety of styles and finishes.
(more…)Eli Lilly, the drug company, according to a report in the New York times, is expected to agree as soon as Thursday to pay $1.4 billion to settle criminal and civil charges that it illegally marketed its antipsychotic drug Zyprexa for unauthorized use in patients particularly vulnerable to its risky side effects.
The company has been charged with scheming to concvince doctors to prescribe Zyprexa for patients, children and older persons, for whom the drug was not federally approved. Studies have shown that the drug
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Our Atlanta lawyers have had experience in bringing actions based upon foodborne illnesses such a salmonella. The salmonella outbreak across the nation has been potentially traced to peanut butter. A recall has been issued for peanut butter distributed by King Nut Companies of Solon, Ohio. The peanut butter was supplied only through food service providers and was not sold directly to consumers. King Nut has challenged the recall contending it could not be the source of the nationwide outbreak since it distributes to only seven
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In Georgia when an innocent person is killed due to the negligence of a third person, the survivors have a claim for wrongful death damages. The full value of the life of the decedent includes both economic and non-economic components. The economic components are more readily deduced. If you take the earning capacity of the decedent, you multiply it over their projected work life expectancy and come up with a calculation as to what future lost wages would be due to the wrongful death.
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Our firm regrettably has encountered several tragic cases involving serious burn injuries. These cases arise in a variety of contexts. Some of our clients have had chemical burns, others have had burns suffered in fires caused by defective products. We have handled wrongful death cases involving the death of young children due to defective air purifiers and serious disfigurement caused in automobile collisions and/or tractor-trailer accidents. Regardless of the factual context, for the victim who is innocent in the premises and suffers serious burn injuries
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On April 2 of this year, we blogged about an important decision rendered by the Georgia Court of Appeals on March 28, 2013 indicating that innocent passengers unwittingly involved in high speed police pursuits can file a claim for damages sustained if they prove a reckless disregard of proper police procedure by the police officer initiating or continuing the pursuit. The newspaper accounts of the incident in Henry County do not provide much by way of detail but apparently police officers were pursuing the
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As is true of any other claim against the Federal Government, if a tort has been committed for which a government employee was negligent which caused injury or damages to an innocent third party, the procedures of the Federal Tort Claims Act govern the claim. A Standard Form 95 with all supporting documents needs to be filed with the appropriate government agency involved before the expiration of two years. Regardless of the agency involved, the form must to be received by the appropriate agency/department.
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In urban America it is not uncommon to see speeding government vehicles heading toward a variety of locations. Whether the emergency vehicle be a fire truck, an ambulance or police vehicle this is a common day occurrence in places like Atlanta. Regrettably, during some of these responses, the emergency vehicles collide with innocent motorists. When this happens, obviously, the issue is whether there is legal liability for the operator of the emergency vehicle/government.
Under O.C.G.A. § 40-6-6, emergency vehicles are permitted to disregard traffic rules
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On March 28 of this year, the Georgia Court of Appeals held that innocent passengers unwittingly involved in a high speed pursuit case can sue the police for damages caused, in part, by a reckless disregard of proper police procedure. In so ruling, the Court of Appeals noted that the police pursuit statute found at O.C.G.A. § 40-6-6(d)(2) was enacted by the Georgia Legislature to protect the rights of the innocent. Whether an innocent person is either inside or outside of a vehicle is not relevant. The question is, whether the injured party filing a claim against the police was innocent of wrongdoing. If innocent, whether a passenger inside the vehicle or a pedestrian outside the vehicle or any other third party, the Georgia Court of Appeals held that such a person could bring a claim, again, provided they were innocent and were injured, in part, by a reckless disregard of proper police procedure.
(more…)There is an old saying that a picture is worth a thousand words. In legal cases presented to a jury, this is particularly true. If you have photographs of an automobile collision’s aftermath and can graphically demonstrate the damage to the vehicles involved, this is much better and more persuasive evidence than is an oral description of the same damage. Likewise, if there are x-rays or photographs of a client’s injuries, this too is very persuasive. Where original photographic evidence or videotaped evidence is not
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Oftentimes clients like to refer to news articles about some substantial jury verdict or settlement in favor of a plaintiff in a particular case. Our advice when these comments are made is that it is very dangerous to compare apples to oranges. Literally speaking, no two cases are alike and it is difficult to compare one person’s case to another. On the other hand, the paramount goal of our attorneys is to make sure that our clients receive the best possible result given the facts of their particular case. Here, we like to compare apples to apples insofar as possible.
(more…)Effective January 1, 2013, Georgia’s New Rules of Evidence go into effect. The new provisions are found generally at O.C.G.A. Title 24, Chapter 1 through 10. The new code applies to all cases filed on/or after 1/01/13 and to all trials commenced on/or after said date. What this means is that the new Rules of Evidence will apply to any case in Georgia beginning on January 1, 2013, and going forward.
(more…)Today we read newspaper accounts about a suspected shoplifter being killed by security personnel at a local Walmart here in Georgia. According to news accounts, the suspected shoplifter allegedly took some merchandise with him outside the store at which point he was tackled to the ground and then held in a “choke hold” for an undetermined period of time. When the police arrived the suspect was motionless and determined to be dead, apparently from trauma inflicted when he was subdued.
Under Georgia law, shopkeepers have
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