Personal Injury

New Tactic By Defense Attorneys To Prejudice Claimants

Our Atlanta personal injury attorneys are constantly monitoring emerging rends in the legal field. Recently, a controversial test that is supposed to detect “malingering” is gaining popularity among defense experts in personal injury, workers’ compensation and other cases.
The “Fake Bad Scale” is being offered by medical experts as evidence that plaintiffs are fabricating or exaggerating their pain or other medical symptoms.
A few courts have ruled on the admissibility of the test, including three Florida courts that excluded testimony about it last year. In
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Federal Agencies Join Forces Against Consumers

If you think the prescription drug you took for headaches caused your heart attack, the Food and Drug Administration says you can’t sue the maker for injury if it met agency standards. The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) says you can’t sue a mattress maker if your mattress bursts into flame despite meeting CPSC standards. Companies making sport utility vehicles would get similar protection from suits brought by people injured or the families of those killed in rollovers under National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)
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Home Defibrillator Study

A study released yesterday contained bad news for makers and buyers of portable defibrillators, devices that deliver electrical shocks meant to revive victims of sudden heart In the first major study of their use in household settings, researchers found no evidence that the devices produced significant life-saving benefits. The study, of more than 7,000 heart patients, concluded that patients in homes equipped with the gear died at the same rate as those without it.
Defibrillators were originally designed for ambulance crews. However, they have recently
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Police Use of Taser Kills Teenager

Many wrongful death lawsuits have been brought against the manufacturer of the popular police taser device but according to the manufacturer’s boasts which are in the public record, no such lawsuits have been successful. And yet, practically every week it seems, another person is killed by the use of this product.
Our wrongful death and injury lawyers read last week a news article about a teenager who was killed by the use of a taser after an altercation inside of a grocery store near Charlotte,
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Imperial Sugar Plant Case Becomes More Complicated

Thirteen (13) people have died (and many more injured) as a result of burns and other injuries sustained in the explosion at the Imperial Plant in Port Wentworth, Georgia. Investigators have expressed the opinion that sugar dust ignited and caused the explosion which resulted in these injuries and deaths. Because most of the people burned, injured or killed as a result of the explosion were employees of Imperial Sugar, unfortunately, they will be barred by law from suing their own employer. This is the state
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Surgical Error Causes Removal of Healthy Kidney

Our Atlanta medical malpractice attorneys on occasion review cases in which surgical procedures are performed on the wrong side of the body.
Last Tuesday there was a report of a wrong site surgery at a Minnesota hospital. Surgeons at the hospital mistakenly removed the wrong kidney from a patient. The surgery was performed last Tuesday at Methodist Hospital in Minneapolis, but it wasn’t until the next day that it was discovered that the wrong kidney had been removed. A pathology examination of the removed kidney
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Contaminated Chinese Heparin

At least19 people have died, and hundreds became ill after being given heparin, a blood-thinning drug sold by drug manufacturer Baxter International. Baxter obtained the drug’s active ingredient from a Chinese manufacturer.
A belated inspection of the Chinese plant found substandard conditions. Recent lab tests revealed an unknown contaminant in batches of the drug, but researchers have not identified what precisely caused the allergic reactions which caused the deaths.
The Food and Drug Administration is required to inspect plants such as the one in China
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Surgery Patients Awake During Procedures

Many surgery patients report that they awake during surgery. They say it feels like being trapped in a corpse, unable to move or scream. Some remember hearing their surgeons talk, and a few recall feeling intense pain.
Each year, as many as 40,000 of the 21 million patients undergoing surgery in the United States may experience inadequate anesthesia, leading to anxiety and even post-traumatic stress disorder if patients regain consciousness, according to the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations.
A widely used device that
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Another Police Chase: Another Tragedy

It seems that everyday our personal injury lawyers open the paper, we read about another wrongful death in the context of a high speed police chase. One such case occurred this past weekend in Augusta, Georgia when a Sheriff’s Deputy was chasing a 19-year old suspect. Initially the officer involved pulled the suspect over and was provided his ID and driver’s license. Thus, the officer knew who the suspect was and where he lived. While the officer went back to his car to
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Another Innocent Victim Killed in a Police Chase for a Stolen Car

In February of this year, an active member of the military at Fort Benning, Sgt. Joanna Joy Ringer, age 21, was reportedly killed as yet another innocent victim in a police chase case. This time, the, innocent victim, Ms. Ringer, was killed because the police were chasing a 17 year old teenager for joyriding in a stolen pickup truck. Ms. Ringer, like all such victims, was simply at the wrong place, at the wrong time when the fleeing suspect ran head on into her car.
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Sex Abuse in Child Care and Day Care Centers: Obtaining Justice for Victims of Sexual Molestation

Two years ago at our law firm, I received a phone call I could not believe–another episode of sexual abuse of a a young child, entrusted to the care of a prominent day care center.

The child’s mother said her lawyer did not know what to do to help her. She was told to call our law firm because we had successfully helped other families whose children had been molested in child care or after school programs.

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Closing Arguments: Be An Ambassador

As we all know, trial lawyers are under assault by the business community. We are accused of being sleazy, money hungry ambulance chasers. I need not further discuss this nationwide propaganda campaign, but suffice it to say, our public image has been and continues to be at risk. Accordingly, it is imperative that as trial attorneys we conduct ourselves as ambassadors for justice when we appear in a courtroom.
The best way to get a favorable result in any case is to exude confidence and
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“Jackpot Justice”

It is amazing to watch television commercials advertising lawyer services for personal injury cases. One often sees a client holding a fist full of cash praising their lawyer for securing a large cash settlement. The client is typically shown smiling and happily talking about how much money they received from their personal injury claim. These ads have often surprised me because it is typically only in the very serious case that clients receive large settlement amounts and in those cases, they usually deserve the
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Asserting Claims Against the Government

Any lawyer who has a client with a claim against any branch of government knows full well that there needs to be investigation of that claim in order to be successful in prosecuting it. One of the first steps in the process is to serve a timely ante-litem notice claim within six months of the claims against a municipality or within twelve months if it involves a claim against the State or a county government agency. We have previously blogged about these requirements in
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Closing Arguments: When Appropriate,Remind Jurors Of Their Oaths

In the typical negligence case, it is not necessary that a jury be reminded that they have taken an oath to set aside any prejudice or biases they have and to render a verdict solely on the evidence and the law presented to them. However, there are cases of a more controversial nature where it might be necessary for counsel to consider reminding the jury of its oath. Examples would include medical malpractice cases and other controversial cases such as high speed police pursuits.
We
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Closing Arguments: Follow the Fundamental Rules

As discussed above, counsel should utilize the structure in delivering his/her summation. If counsel is disorganized in his approach, the jurors will not follow the arguments made and subliminally will believe that counsel is not entitled to a verdict. Again this is a fundamental rule of a winning summation.
Although the fundamental dos are sometimes easy to recognize, there are some fundamental don’ts as well. For example, do not select an issue that an intelligent juror will recognize as being disingenuous or phoney. Never misstate
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Closing Arguments: Remember Why You Are There

In a hotly contested liability case, it is often easy for counsel to forget that the reason they are there is to achieve a favorable monetary verdict for their client. It is tempting sometimes to spend far too much time discussing liability thereby leaving counsel with little or no time to discuss damages. The reason we are in Court is to try to get a verdict to compensate our client for the damages they have sustained. Obviously, we have to discuss liability. However, we should
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Closing Arguments: Speak From The Heart

As stated above, it is most important that counsel appear to be completely sincere in everything he says and does. The best way to do this is to speak from the heart and tell the jury exactly what you think. If the jury senses that counsel is speaking candidly in a forthright manner about the issues in the case, the jury is more likely to have confidence in what is being said.
If you speak from the heart, by definition, you are being yourself. If
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Closing Arguments: Use Demonstrative and Trial Exhibits

Every good trial lawyer knows that a jury remembers best that which they both hear and see. Accordingly, demonstrative exhibits should always be used during closing argument. Sometimes demonstrative exhibits are necessary in order to emphasize a point about liability. Sometimes they are used to emphasize principles of law.
Effective demonstratives can also be used to discuss damages. A good closing argument might use demonstratives in all of these areas. In short, a well prepared demonstrative exhibit will assist counsel in making his point while
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Closing Arguments: Use the Rules Governing The Case

In giving a closing argument, it is essential that counsel use the legal language of the case. The court will be instructing the jury on various principles of law that could be absolutely crucial in the jury’s determination of the facts. Thus, when discussing a case with the jury, counsel should use the language of the case. Counsel should use and explain terms such as “preponderance of the evidence,” “proximate cause,” “breach of duty,” “failure to exercise ordinary care,” “negligence,” and “damages.” If, for example,
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