Personal Injury

Georgia SUV & Pickup Truck Rollovers -The Importance of Electronic Stability Control

Severe personal injuries – often including spinal paralysis, closed head injury brain damage, and even death – frequently result from vehicle damage that is sustained in rollover car accidents in Georgia and other states. According to April 19, 2007 Status Report published by the Insurance Institute For Highway Safety, nine vehicles, all SUV’s and pickups, have more than 75 deaths per million vehicles in single vehicle rollover crashes, compared with an average of 24 in all 2001-04 vehicles during 2002-05. This higher rate is largely
(more…)

Sovereign Immunity: An Antiquated Doctrine With Harsh Results

When I speak to potential clients about claims against government employees and entities, they are often startled to learn about the antiquated but harsh doctrine of sovereign immunity. Many states have made changes to their laws to minimize the impact of this legal doctrine upon the innocent. However, in many circumstances, states like Georgia still employ the doctrine to defeat the claims of those injured by government actors. While some improvements in the law have been made, regrettably, they have not been sufficient to address
(more…)

Van Accidents

Large vans are frequently used to transport college and other school sports teams, commuters, students, day care children, the elderly, and church groups. The accident rates for these vans are alarming.
According to the National Safety Transportation Board, between 1994 and 2004, there were 1,512 fatal crashes involving 15-passenger vans. In 2004 alone, 120 occupants of 15-passenger vans died in crashes involving these vehicles A total of 642 of these were single-vehicle crashes and 515 of the vehicles rolled over. More than half of the
(more…)

Soccer Goal Recall

About 190,000 MacGregor and Mitre folding soccer goals were recalled Tuesday, after the death of a young child. The recalled goals were manufactured in China. Anyone having one of these goals should remove it immediately.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission said a 20-month-old boy from Texas was strangled when his head and arm became entangled in the net of one of the recalled goals.
The gaps in the recalled nets are about 20 square inches, which is a dangerous size according to the CPSC. The
(more…)

Spanair JK5022 (Update): Abogados especializados en casos de Litigacion Internacional de choques aereosdente aereo

Spanair JK5022: Creo que le interesaría ver este video animado, el cual fue preparado por la firma Kreindler:
http://www.kreindler.com/kreindler_news/news_current/Spanair5022-Full-animation-video.html
Para una consulta gratis, favor de enviar su correo electronico precionando aqui (haga clic aqui).
__________________

(more…)

Legal Remedies for Victims of Sexual Assault

In our serious injury practice, regrettably, we have seen more and more cases involving sexual assault. These cases arise in of a variety of contexts. We have seen assaults on minor children committed by third parties (such as school or church officials), we have seen sexual assaults on wards of mental institutions committed by employees entrusted with their care and we have seen sexual assault cases involving rape where there has been negligent or gross security by apartment complexes where, for example, the tenant is
(more…)

Zyprexa Documents Unsealed

Highly respected Judge Jack B. Weinstein of the United States Federal District Court in Brooklyn decided on Friday to unseal confidential materials about Eli Lillys top-selling antipsychotic drug Zyprexa.
Judge Weinstein’s ruling was part of an order that gave class-action status to a case brought by insurance companies, pension funds and unions that allege Lilly owes them billions of dollars they spent on the drug. They allege that Lilly hid the side effects of the drug and marketed it for unapproved uses.
The Judge ordered
(more…)

New Product Safety Law

Last month, consumer, public interest and scientific groups applauded President Bush for signing product safety reform legislation into law that will overhaul the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC).
The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008, was passed overwhelmingly by Congress. The new law will make consumer products safer by requiring that toys and infant products be tested before they are sold, and by banning lead and other harmful chemicals in toys, by creating a comprehensive publicly accessible consumer complaint database, give the CPSC the
(more…)

FDA Discloses Drugs Under Investigation

Yesterday, the Food and Drug Administration began posting a list of prescription drugs under investigation for potential safety problems.The first list is a bare-bones compilation naming 20 medications and the potential issue for each. It provides no indication of how widespread or serious the problems might be, leading some consumer advocates to question its usefulness, and prompting industry worries that skittish patients might stop taking a useful medication if they see it listed.
Food and Drug Administration officials said they are trying to walk a
(more…)

Georgia Hospitals Perform Poorly

A new website, The Hospital Compare Web, run by the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, shows 80 U.S. hospitals listed as top performers in the mortality rates for patients admitted with heart attack, heart failure or pneumonia. No Georgia hospitals were among the best performers. Nine Georgia hospitals rated worse than national norms on death rates for pneumonia or heart failure. The number of poorly performing hospitals in Georgia was higher than any state other than California.
Mortality rates for hospitals across the
(more…)

Trial Techniques – The Art of Cross-Examination – Part XI

Rule No. 7 of 12: The successful cross-examiner listens to the witness’s direct testimony.
When a witness is called by the other side to testify against one’s client, one must be very careful to listen to that witness. Even if counsel has had the benefit of taking the deposition of the witness and has a beautiful outline to be used for anticipated cross of the witness, counsel must nonetheless listen very closely to the actual testimony given before the jury. It may be that the
(more…)

Trial Techniques – The Art of Cross-Examination – Part X

Rule No. 6 of 12: The successful cross-examiner stays calm and collected whatever happens.
During the testimony of a witness, particularly where the witness is providing very damaging testimony, counsel cannot flinch or otherwise demonstrate through body language that his client’s case has been hurt. Counsel must always stay calm and collected because body language many times can betray counsel’s representation of their client.
When a witness is being evasive or refuses to answer questions or asks counsel questions from the witness stand, counsel must
(more…)

ATV ACCIDENT RESULTS IN DEATH & SERIOUS INJURY

The Georgia injury lawyers have written before that with the growing popularity of ATV’s or All-Terrain Vehicles, serious injury and death cases are on the increase in Georgia, especially among children. Yesterday, we read about a 12-year-old Alto, Georgia girl who was killed last Friday night about 8:30 p.m. in an accident involving an all-terrain vehicle in Banks County. According to the Georgia State Patrol the girl was driving the vehicle when it overturned on private property. A 15-year-old passenger, who was not identified, was

(more…)

Trial Techniques – The Art of Cross-Examination – Part IX

Rule No. 5 of 12: The successful cross-examiner never asks an open-ended question such as “why” unless it does not care what the answer is.
In discussing rule 4 above, we gave a good example of why you do not ask open-ended questions. If you ask a witness “why?” they will tell you. In other words, they will give a speech, which usually will hurt your client. If you are cross-examining a witness, by definition, that means that the witness has been called by the
(more…)

Dangerous Magnetic Toy Manufacturer Fined

We have previously written about dangerous toys containing magnets which can be swallowed by small children. Last week, toy manufacturer Mega Brands America Inc. consented to pay a $1.1 million civil penalty for failing to promptly report promptly dangerous magnetic building sets which it manufactured. The sets have been blamed in the death of a child.
As we reported, tiny magnets can fall out of toys and be swallowed or inhaled by children. If more than one magnet is swallowed, they can attach to each
(more…)

Trial Techniques – The Art of Cross-Examination – Part VIII

Rule No. 4 of 12: The successful cross-examiner never asks a question unless he knows what the answer will be or doesn’t care what it is.
Unless counsel is fully prepared, has fully investigated the case and has conducted necessary discovery, this rule is difficult to follow. On the other hand, if counsel knows everything about the case then there is no reason why this rule cannot be followed and, in fact, it should be followed in all cases. Otherwise, disaster can strike.
There is
(more…)

Trial Techniques – The Art of Cross-Examination – Part VII

Rule No. 3 of 12: The successful cross-examiner avoids the appearance of pettiness, nit-picking or unfairness to the witness.
Even though we practice in an adversarial system, there is no necessity to be adversarial with the cross-examination of each and every witness. Righteous indignation needs to be saved for appropriate occasions where the witness is clearly lying or needs to be exposed for some form of aggravated misconduct. Counsel must reserve outrage and indignation for the proper case.
If trial counsel is unfair to any
(more…)

Raptiva Withdrawn From Market

Raptiva, a drug manufactured by Roche HoldingAG’s Genentech Inc. and marketed for the treatment of psoriasis has been linked to a rare but often fatal brain disorder. As a result of these findings, Genentech has issued a voluntary recall of the drug.
Genentech previously disclosed that three cases of the disorder, called progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy, had turned up in patients taking Raptiva since October of last year. Two of these cases were fatal. A fourth patient died of unknown cause after developing neurologic symptoms. All
(more…)

Physical & Sexual Abuse At Georgia Day Care Centers

The Georgia injury lawyers at Finch McCranie, LLP have represented, and continue to represent, victims of day care child abuse. The statistics on physical child abuse are alarming. It is estimated that hundreds of thousands of children are physically abused each year by a parent or close relative; however, abusers include daycare workers, healthcare providers, mental healthcare workers and others who care for children on a daily basis.

(more…)

GM Recalls Dangerous Cars

Many Georgia residents may be driving General Motors cars which have a dangerous propensity to ignite in flames. General Motors and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced yesterday that the possibility of engine fires has prompted General Motors to recall nearly 1.5 million passenger sedans manufactured between 1997 and 2003.

The recall covers certain mid- and full-size passenger sedans under GM’s Chevrolet, Buick, Oldsmobile and Pontiac brands.

(more…)
Secret Link