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 Should Ban Cell Phone Use While Driving

On July 1 of this year the state of California provided a great example for the state of Georgia in prohibiting by law drivers in California from holding a phone and talking while driving. Under the new law, a driver is prohibited from talking on a hand held cell phone while driving. Blue tooth handless cell use is permitted. There is also an exception for emergencies under this new law, however, obviously, the law is intended to promote safety awareness by drivers who are oftentimes
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Deaths Linked to Contaminated Heparin

According to an Article in The Chicago Tribune, the Food and Drug Administration conclusively has linked 3 patient deaths to a foreign substance found in specific lots of Heparin, a drug manufactured by Baxter International. According to the news report, the FDA completed its review of 93 reports of deaths related to Heparin that were received from January through the end of March, a period when there was a huge spike in the potentially deadly allergic reactions from patients who had been injected with this
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Allstate Bad Faith

Allstate Insurance Company is known by plaintiff’s attorneys for engaging in bad faith tactics. Last week, the Missouri Court of Appeals upheld a jury verdict that hit Allstate with more than $16 million in damages for bad faith tactics.
On March 24, 2000, Wayne Davis Jr., while drunk, drove his truck across the center line of a roadway and hit a compact car head-on. The force of the collision pushed the car back more than 100 feet. The driver and the passenger survived but suffered
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Dangerous Tires Threaten The Public

According to the National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration, last summer, more than 380,000 defective tires were recalled from the market. What is more troubling than this number is the fact that experts agree that less than 20% of the public was aware of the recalls involved. Accordingly, 80% of the defective tires are still being used and are probably on the roads today. In short, recall notices are rarely received and thus the entire public remains at risk as a result of the continued
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The Wreckage Of A Wrongful Death Case: More Than Meets The Eye

On April 30 of this year on a busy interstate here in Atlanta, a Ms. Katherine Armstrong was killed when involved in a collision with an armored truck on a busy interstate highway in Atlanta. The driver of the truck was later charged with vehicular homicide. Ms. Armstrong was cleared of any wrongdoing. Based on what we have learned about this tragic incident, however, the emotional, psychological, physical and monetary damage caused by this wrongful death incident does not stop with the death itself but
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Accident Data To Be Released To The Public

In a major victory for consumers, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled last week that information that automobile and tire manufacturers submit to the government about crashes resulting in death, injury and property damage is subject to release to the public under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).
The case was brought by the public interest consumer group Public Citizen. In its ruling the Court rejected the argument of the Rubber Manufacturers Association that it is exempt from FOIA’s disclosure
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Trasylol Removed From The Market:Suspected in Hundreds of Deaths

On May 14, 2008, the manufacturer of Trasylol officially pulled all remaining supplies of the blood clotting drug from the market. This drug, manufactured by Bayer (AG) is typically used by surgeons to control bleeding during heart surgery. Unfortunately, in a major study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, it was reported that the use of this drug significantly raised the risk of death for patients who used this product as opposed to other similar products on the market. A study conducted by
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The Complications Of A Serious Personal Injury Claim

Every serious injury claim our firm handles has its own set of complications, but one of the most complicating facts we are often confronted with is the case where someone is seriously injured in an automobile or tractor-trailer collision and they have no health insurance. Indeed, regardless of the type of claim, whether it be a slip and fall, a products liability claim, medical malpractice or any other tort case, the lack of available health insurance oftentimes severely compromises our ability to obtain justice for our clients. This also severely compromises the ability of the injured individual to obtain the necessary care to improve their health. While we often read in the paper about the crisis of our healthcare delivery system when it comes to poor and the indigent, we see this crises every day in our practice when innocent victim/clients who are suffering are unable to afford needed healthcare.

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Georgia Bicycling Laws

In addition to the bicycle laws already covered in past blogs, there are a few others with which all bike riders should be familiar.
One makes it unlawful for any person to sell a new bicycle or pedal unless the pedals on the bike or the pedal is equipped with a reflector of a type approved by the Department of Public Safety. The reflector must be situated so as to be visible from the front and rear of the bike during darkness from a distance
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Beware Medical Credit Cards

Many doctors and dentists are marketing medical credit cards to their patients. Doctors like the cards because they get paid immediately from the credit card companies rather than spending time collecting medical bills. Doctors and other health care providers are pushing the cards even in cases where the patient needs emergency care and may not be in a position to refuse the card or to intelligently make a proper financial decision.
Consumer lawyers report they are seeing a growing number of cases where patients say
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