ATLANTA,GA
DULUTH, GA
Lately there has been a lot of publicity about the death of a 17-year old track star due to her use of the common muscle relaxant sports cream Bengay.
As I was reading these articles, it reminded me of case I handled several years ago involving a similar product called Icy Hot.
In that case, a diabetic client that I represented had used the product and apparently due to her diabetic condition, developed topical salicylate poisoning due to the main ingredient found in the Icy
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Lawyers in Georgia who handle serious injury and wrongful death cases are often confronted with situations where their clients are hospitalized and later acquire a Staph infection which greatly complicates their recovery. We also see cases where clients call complaining about the development of an infection while hospitalized for one condition where the infection becomes much more serious than the condition for which they were originally treated. Regrettably, many people die from these infections.
(more…)In the summer of 2006 MSNBC.com reported that each year as many as 1.5 million Americans suffer a serious injury or death because of errors made in the dispensing, prescribing or taking of prescription drugs. In an earlier report published by the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies, it was estimated that each year more than 7,000 people in the United States die from pharmacy related medication errors. Last year, in the nationally syndicated program 20/20, ABC News reported extensively on this problem. Regrettably,
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Just this past week, clients retained our firm’s services with respect to a serious motorcycle injury. As is often the case, because motorcycle riders are unprotected except for the helmet they wear, whenever an accident occurs involving a motorcycle, typically, serious injuries are involved.
The worst case we handled was about 3 years ago when one of our partners represented a motorcycle rider who was hit by a drunk driver and almost killed. This drunk driver not only ran over the motorcycle driver, the motorcycle
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A few days ago, we wrote an article about the importance of uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage in those situations where the at fault party has minimum limits of liability insurance coverage. Today we write about another reason why all Georgia motorists should consider carrying uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage in amounts at least as much as their liability insurance coverage and perhaps much more.
The distinction between liability coverage and uninsured motorist coverage is the fact that liability coverage protects the person you hit whereas uninsured motorist coverage
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Mesothelioma results from inhalation and exposure to asbestos. Mesothelioma is a specific form of lung cancer affecting the thin membrane linings of the abdomen and internal organs (cancer of the mesothelium). Because of exposure to asbestos, the cells of the mesothelium become abnormal and cancerous.
In Georgia and elsewhere, asbestos has been used in building materials, paper products and plastics. It is also found in textiles, packings and asbestos reinforced plastics. Nationwide, more than a quarter of a million people have been known to have
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Uninsured Employers is a growing problem for injured workers in Georgia. In our practice we have seen a growing number of employees who have been seriously injured only to discover that their employers have no workers’ compensation insurance coverage. Many of those employers have no real assets and they are therefore “judgment proof.”
I recently read that on November 9, 2006, the Governor of Pennsylvania signed into law a significant change in the Pennsylvania Workers Compensation Act. Like Georgia, the Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Act covers
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As I ride around the City, I am amazed at the number of billboard advertisements by attorneys. Occasionally, even though I am working all day long, I also get a chance while I am in a waiting room (usually awaiting a doctor’s deposition) to watch daytime TV. When I watch the TV, I am similarly amazed at the number of lawyer advertisements on daytime television. Obviously, this leads me to consider how the average person goes about finding a qualified personal injury attorney in a
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Many of the clients we represent are married individuals. When they are seriously injured, obviously, their spouses are adversely affected. The emotional toll of caring for an injured spouse, worrying about their health and financial issues and being overwhelmed by dealing with the totality of a serious injury case can be debilitating. The spouse of the actual client may be emotionally taxed and physically burdened by increased demands and therefore entitled to compensation for their damages. The question is whether a loss of consortium claim
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A typical case we see far too often is that where the motorist who caused the damage to our client had the minimum limits of Georgia law which provides only $25,000.00 in liability insurance coverage. Typically such a driver has little or no personal assets to satisfy an excess judgment against them. In those cases where our client’s damages (medical bills, lost wages, pain and suffering) clearly exceed the $25,000.00 in available limits, the best chance for an excess recovery is to procure uninsured/underinsured motorist
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As discussed above, one should not rely upon the inspiration of the moment to deliver a closing argument. A winning summation is usually the result of meticulous, painstaking preparation done well in advance of the actual delivery of the remarks. In order to insure that such preparation is not wasted, obviously, it is necessary that counsel utilize a structure in preparing his/her outline of the legal and factual issues counsel wishes to discuss with the jury.
The following elements should be present in your remarks: 1) an interesting introduction to the summation; 2) a discussion of what happened; 3) a discussion of the law and the burden of proof and why; 4) a discussion of damages; and 5) an appropriate peroration or conclusion.
(more…)In order to communicate with sincerity, there must be a body language and eye contact that flows naturally when discussing a case with the jury. The word discussion is important because one should never read to a jury or give them a speech. It is difficult to develop a personal rapport with the jury if one is speaking at someone as opposed to talking with them. While there should be an element of formality to the summation consistent with the seriousness of the cause of
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Another fundamental of a sound closing argument is being as natural as you can be. You should never try to imitate someone else’s style or manner. You can only be yourself. The jury is always watching you very closely. Are you sincere? Are you believable? Are you trustworthy? Everything you do must communicate to the jury that you believe to the core of your being in the justness of your client’s cause. If you subliminally communicate such a belief in everything that you do in
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It is a very effective form of communication to stay on message and repeat consistently a unified theme. In the opening statement, a theme of the case or theory of the case should have been developed.
The trial lawyer should harken back to his opening statement during summation and use some of the same language in discussing the issues. This so-called “echo effect” is very important in driving home a point. The Republicans are masters at staying on message and repeating their message constantly and
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What follows are excerpts from an article one of our lawyers wrote about Closing Arguments. We have previously posted Trial Techniques articles about effective cross-examination. As this article is broken ito separate parts, we will post the various subsections and suggestions in separate posts over the next several weeks. We hope this will be helpful to you if you are a practicing atorney and ,if a potential client, will give you insight into what a Trial lawyer should do to effectively represent your interests:
The
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In a wrongful death case, a jury will be instructed that they should return a verdict for the “full value of the life of the decedent.” This means not only any economic damages caused by a premature and wrongful death, but also “non-economic damages.” How is this calculated and how should jury be instructed to reach such an award? Interestingly enough, the jury will be instructed that they should rely upon their “enlightened conscious” in making such determinations.
If a 28-year old is killed
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As stated in earlier blogs, in Georgia, the measure of damages for a wrongful death is “the full value of the life of the decedent.” One component of the full value of the life of the decedent is the loss of earnings and loss of income. If a 28-year old dies while earning $40,000.00 per year and he/she will work until age 70 (which is another 42 years) one simple way to calculate the loss of wages would be 42 years times $40,000.00 per
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When someone is killed due to the negligence of a third party, a wrongful death action can be filed in order to recover the “full value of the life of the decedent” as determined by the “enlightened conscience” of fair and impartial jurors. The measure of damages is defined exactly this way under Georgia law. That being, what amount of compensation would provide adequate reimbursement for “the full value” of the life of the decedent. This seems almost impossible to calculate because one can
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Negligent security cases typically arise in the context of a victim of a criminal assault either at an apartment complex or motel. If the apartment complex provides security but negligently does so, and a tenant is attacked at a time an attack is foreseeable, an apartment complex can be held liable even if the damages were perpetrated by a criminal third party. Similarly, in a motel setting, if the motel is aware that their tenants are at heightened risk of attacks from criminals and fail
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It was announced today that Ford Motor Company has recalled 2005 and 2006 year model F-150 pickup trucks because of problems with unexpected and unintended airbag deployments. According to the National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration, the recall involves approximately 150,000 F-150 pickup trucks. It appears that front airbags have been deploying unannounced. Obviously, this could lead to an accident if the airbag deploys while the vehicle is being driven or otherwise causes a distraction that might cause a driver to lose control. Ford officials
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