Personal Injury

Dog Attacks

It seems that almost every day there is a headline in the local paper or on the TV news concerning horrible injuries suffered by a person attacked by a dog. This firm has successfully handled a large number of liability cases in which our clients were viciously attacked and injured by dogs.
Georgia law provides two ways that an animal owner or handler may be found liable for injuries inflicted by the animal. The first requires that the victim prove: (1) that the animal is
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Uninsured Motorist Coverage: More Necessary Than Ever

One of the unfortunate occurrences we see in our practice all too often is the regrettable case where our clients believe they have more insurance coverage than they have in actuality and less than what they need. It is not unusual for us to see a client who has excellent liability coverage, for example, $300,000.00 – $500,000.00 in single limit coverage (or better). That same client, however, even though they have $300,000.00 – $500,000.00 in liability coverage protecting the third party in the event they are negligent will often times only carry $25,000.00 per person, $50,000.00 per accident in uninsured motorist coverage. In short, the clients have more coverage for the person that they might hurt than they have for themselves if they are hurt by a third party.

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A Welcome Erosion of Sovereign Immunity in Georgia

For many yearsin Georgia, unless a local government entity carried optional liability insurance coverage for automobiles under the control of city/county employees, it could not be sued no matter how much damage was inflicted by their actions. Of course, this resulted in tremendous injustices throughout our state. Finally, in 2004 because many, many innocent members of the motoring public were being injured by the acts of negligent government employees, the Georgia Legislature acted to waive sovereign immunity in such cases.

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High Speed Police Chase Cases: An American Tragedy

Some lessons are never learned. The law enforcement community has known for almost 20 years now that the dangers attendant to high speed police chases are tremendous. Indeed, the data of such dangers began accumulating in the 1980’s that the public price of these high speed police chases was simply too great to continue to allow unrestricted chases by the police. By 1990, the data was inescapable. Indeed, in 1990 alone, there were 314 deaths and over 20,000 injuries associated with high speed police chases. Many of the deaths involved the police themselves (not to mention the fleeing suspects) and thousands of innocent third parties who got caught up in the chase. This was known over 17 years ago. Unfortunately, the law enforcement community still continues to defend its actions when death to the innocent is caused by unwarranted and unnecessary high speed chases.

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An Abbreviated Checklist For The Federal Tort Claims Act

We have handled many federal tort claims on behalf of clients over the years but, nonetheless, it is always helpful to have an Abbreviated Federal Tort Claims Act Checklist to make sure that we are in compliance with the law. Those who have never handled a case against the United States government may find some of the procedural requirements burdensome and difficult to navigate. Nonetheless, once a checklist is developed, the procedure is actually fairly easy to follow but and this is an important but, it must be followed correctly. Here are some of the items on our list:

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Georgia Residents May Be Affected By FDA Drug Ban

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has prohibited Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd., India’s largest drug manufacturer, from introducing new generic drugs from one of its factories after it falsified data about products’ shelf life.
Yesterday, the FDA announced that a facility owned by Ranbaxy Laboratories falsified data and test results in approved and pending drug applications. The facility, Paonta Sahib, has been under an FDA Import Alert since September 2008.
The FDA announced that it was continuing to investigate this matter to ensure the safety and
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Georgia Motorcycle Accident Claims Life

As Georgia injury lawyers we see many wrongful death cases from motorcycle accidents. Most motorcycle accidents seem to involve young drivers; however, that is not always the case. In the last two weeks, a Georgia man was killed in a single-vehicle motorcycle accident when the driver, age 57, lost control of his 2009 Revtech EX Wide motorcycle in a curve and laid the bike down on its left side. According to the Georgia State Patrol’s investigation, the motorcycle left a 113 foot-long gouge
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Medical Device Maker Under Investigation

Stryker, a leading maker of medical devices is reportedly the subject of a Justice Department investigation into Stryker’s marketing of human bone growth products. The investigation has already resulted in guilty pleas by former company sales representatives. Two former sales representatives pleaded guilty to charges that they had promoted off-label use of the products even though they knew that such use had earlier caused problems in some patients.
The investigation is reported to involve several issues. These include whether Stryker abused a federal exemption that
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Legal Maneuvering In The Georgia Peanut Salmonella Case

It was announced last week that The Peanut Corporation of America has decided to file for bankruptcy. Under bankruptcy law, one may not sue a company that has filed for bankruptcy protection. Accordingly, with respect to the wrongful death actions and serious injury claims that are likely to be brought as a result of the widely reported salmonella contamination at the Company’s Blakely, Georgia plant, the corporation has cleverly maneuvered into bankruptcy court to prevent the filing of these lawsuits. This will buy the corporation
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Georgia Victims Denied Legal Remedies

Many Georgia consumers have been impacted by a recent Supreme Court ruling granting immunity from lawsuits to medical device makers for products approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Our Atlanta Georgia lawyers have previously written about this decision.

Since that ruling judges in Georgia and across the United States have used it as a basis to dismiss cases against a wide range of manufacturers, including Medtronic. The most recent dismissal was this past Tuesday, by the Wisconsin Supreme Court.

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Dangerous and Defective Products

The Georgia injury lawyers at Finch McCranie, LLP have handled many products liability cases involving many different defective and dangerous products, including a defective and dangerous deer stand. When these products fail, catastrophic injury or death often results. This week I read about a recent case in which a jury returned a $157M (million) dollar verdict in a wrongful death case against three companies, L & L Enterprises in Hattiesburg, Miss., Ol’ Man Tree Stands in Jay, Florida, and TSR Inc. in Pace,
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Children and ATVs – A Dangerous Combination

Every year the Georgia injury attorneys at Finch McCranie, LLP get calls about people being seriously injured on All Terrain Vehicles (ATVs), especially children. Just last year we had a wrongful death case involving a minor and an ATV. In that case, we represented the family of a young girl who was thrown off of the back of an ATV while riding as a passenger, at night and with no helmet! As spring approaches, a quick warning about the dangers of ATVs is in
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How Do I Find An Experienced Lawyer And Attorney

We have blogged before about the need for consumers to protect their interests when trying to retain an attorney. Truck accident cases present many obstacles for attorneys who do not regularly practice in the area. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations oftentimes control this type of case and yet many attorneys are not familiar with the requirements imposed by federal law. Additionally, the technology available on trucks that can be downloaded by experts with proper computer software may present different evidentiary and investigative challenges
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Georgia Uninsured – Underinsured Coverage Changes

Georgia law relating to uninsured automobile insurance has changed effective January 1, 2009. We have previously written about the importance of uninsured/underinsured (UM) coverage. Essentially this is coverage which protects you and your family if you are injured in a wreck caused by a person with no or low limits of insurance. Unfortunately there are many of these drivers on the roads in Georgia.
Under the new law the major changes relate to the ability to purchase increased coverage. This is best understood by way
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Unethical Health Insurance Practices

Our Atlanta, Georgia lawyers see health insurance companies deny valid claims on a daily basis, depriving policyholders of necessary medical care to which they are entitled. Now, a California health insurer has been caught red handed. The insurer, Health Net, has agreed to pay as much as $14 million to settle a pair of lawsuits brought on behalf of 800 former policyholders whose coverage was dropped after they submitted substantial medical bills.

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