Personal Injury

Clayton County Police Chase Resulting in Wrongful Death of Two Innocent Victims Is an Outrage

The Georgia injury lawyers at Finch McCranie, LLP have sued a number of police departments around the State of Georgia for the wrongful death of innocent citizens caused by police chases. Our experience has shown that following a high speed pursuit, the police begin immediately to plan their defense. We have already seen this in last week’s outrageous police chase in Clayton County. The police have told reporters that the officer had already slowed down “hoping that the fleeing suspect would slow
(more…)

Dangerous Drawstrings In Children Clothing

Our Atlanta product liability attorneys have represented parents of children killed and seriously injured by dangerous products.
Drawstrings in hooded sweatshirts have been long recognized as a danger to small children. There have been many reports of children strangled after the drawstrings have been accidently caught in various devices. Some of these incidents have resulted in death.
In November 2008, a 3-year-old boy died in Fresno, Calif., when the drawstring on his Hill Sportswear hooded sweatshirt became stuck on a playground set strangling him.
(more…)

Clayton County Georgia Police Chase Leads To Wrongful Death of Two Innocent Victims

The Georgia injury lawyers at Finch McCranie, LLP have several wrongful death lawsuits pending against various police departments throughout the state. They all involve police chases.They all involve police officers violating their own department policy with respect to police chases. They all involve the wrongful death of innocent victims and several involve the Clayton County Police. Will they ever get the message? Yesterday, Clayton County Police officers saw two men in a pickup truck appear to solicit a known
(more…)

Big Business Trys To Derail Financial Reform

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is again launching an attempt to protect its mega business members at the expense of ordinary U.S. citizens. The Chamber has been at the forefront in attempts to mislead Americans about a multitude of issues which affect millions of people, all to protect the profits of its controlling members. Now, the Chamber is rolling out an advertising campaign of at least $2 million aimed at defeating a central plank of the Obama administration’s financial-regulation overhaul.
But there won’t be any
(more…)

$5.3 MILLION WRONGFUL DEATH AWARD IN SMOKER’S DEATH

A Florida jury awarded a 92-year-old man over $5.3 million in his wrongful death lawsuit against Phillip Morris, the cigarette maker according to The Miami Herald. The man’s wife died in 1996 at the age of 63 from lung cancer after smoking 2 packs of Marlboro’s a day since she was 16-years of age. The apparent theory of the case was that the tobacco industry, including Philip Morris, misrepresented the risk of smoking in its advertising and knowingly sold a product which was addictive. Notwithstanding

(more…)

Google Alerts Demonstrate Dangers of Police Chases

If you go on Google and take advantage of a tool known as “Google News Alerts,” Google will send to you via e-mail news accounts in which certain terms are used. I typed in today the terms “police chase killed.” The following are headlines received from newspapers across the country which I received from this Google News Alert:
1) Victim In Police Chase Remembered as Caring Mom;
2) Woman Killed In Crash During Oakland Police Chase;
3) Toddler Killed In Police Chase;
4) One Man
(more…)

Wrongful Death Verdict For $13.8 Million Against Cigarette Maker

Georgia injury lawyers have not forgotten the sworn testimony the CEO’s of all of the major tobacco companies gave Congress a few years ago. Who could forget when these prominent men raised their right hands and swore that “Nicotine is not addictive”. Apparently a jury has not forgotten their testimony. Bloomberg reported that in a wrongful death case, a California jury has ordered Altria Group, Inc., the parent company of Philip Morris USA, maker of Marlboro cigarettes to pay $13.8 million in punitive
(more…)

Drunk Driving Deaths Among Females Shows Alarming Increase

A Douglas County, Georgia woman has been charged with criminal offenses involving drunk driving after a collision early last Monday morning resulted in two deaths of innocent motorists. The Atlanta press reported that Natasha Searcy, 22, was driving drunk in her 1998 Pontiac when she crossed the center line, striking a car driven by 25-year-old Ashley Ingalsbe.
Searcy has been charged with vehicular homicide in the first and second degrees, driving under the influence, not having insurance and failure to maintain lane, and was
(more…)

Danger Warning For Weight Loss Drugs

Our Georgia attorneys frequently receive calls about dangerous drugs which seem to be routinely marketed to unsuspecting consumers and health care professionals. Recently, weight-loss drugs made by mega-manufacturers GlaxoSmithKline Plc and Roche Holding AG were linked to at least 32 reports of serious liver injury from 1999 to October 2008.
The Food and Drug Administration has posted a notice on its web site advising consumers taking Glaxo’s over-the-counter drug Alli or Roche’s prescription Xenical to consult a doctor if they experience weakness, fever, jaundice
(more…)

Bassinet Warnings Renewed After Georgia Death

Last September a 2 month old child in Demorest, Georgia, died after being suffocated when she became trapped in a pocket of fabric not securely fastened to her bassinet. In January of this year, a 6 month old child in Fort Worth, Texas, died when a fabric flap on her basinett was undone and she became trapped between exposed bars in the bassinet.
Both children died after getting trapped in previously recalled bassinets manufactured by Simplicity. These deaths follow two prior deaths in 2008 under
(more…)

Innocent Pedestrian Killed During High Speed Police Pursuit

On February 5, 2012, a thirty-one year old woman was killed in a residential neighborhood as police officers were pursuing shoplifting suspects. The news accounts do not provide a great deal of information about what the suspects allegedly stole but tragically, again, the question arises in the context of these dangerous pursuits, is it worth risking a human life to apprehend a fleeing shoplifter? Could not other law enforcement techniques have been utilized to apprehend the suspects later, under much safer circumstances? Here, rather
(more…)

Motorcycle Accidents And The Need For Uninsured Motorist Coverage

In those situations where motorcyclists are involved in automobile collisions, as might be imagined, the injuries sustained can be rather serious. There is no protection other than the helmet for the motorcycle rider. If a motorist fails to yield right-of-way to an oncoming motorcyclist and fails to yield, the results tragically can be either death or very serious injury. What compounds the tragedy is the case where the at fault motorist has either minimum limits of insurance or no insurance at all. In such
(more…)

The Aftermath Of Tort Reform: Dealing With The Apportionment Statute

In 2005, the Georgia Legislature passed what is known as the Tort Reform Act of 2005. One of the statutes enacted is O.C.G.A. § 51-12-33(c). This provision of the law states that in assessing percentages of fault in any tort action, the trier of fact shall consider the fault of all persons or entities who contributed to the alleged injury or damages, regardless of whether the person or entity was or could have been named as a party to the suit. Thus, in any tort
(more…)

Tort Claims Against State County And Municipal Governments

Any one who is injured by the acts or omissions of a government agency or employee should understand that there are some hidden traps that could defeat their claims if the law is not followed, in some cases, scrupulously followed. Here we refer to the ante-litem notice provisions required under Georgia law in order to perfect a claim against a government officer or entity. In certain circumstances, if a timely ante-litem notice is not filed, either with a city, county or state government, the
(more…)

The Impact Of Divorce On Wrongful Death Actions

A divorce is traumatic in and of itself but becomes particularly tragic when either during the divorce or after its conclusion the wrongful death of a child occurs. In such circumstances, the wrongful death claim belongs to the parents jointly. Either one, therefore, has the right to bring the wrongful death claim but if one proceeds unilaterally in doing so, they do so in a fiduciary capacity, meaning that if they ever recover anything, they must hold the monies in trust until such time
(more…)

The Impact of Pre-Existing Injuries On Personal Injury Case Evaluation

It is not uncommon in our practice to be asked to represent clients in automobile cases who have pre-existing conditions. The closer in time to an accident the pre-existing condition is, the more difficult it is to separate the proverbial “wheat from the chaff” and to prove that the client’s problems arising out of the current accident were either caused by that accident and/or were aggravated by it. While it is not necessary, as a matter of law, to prove that the new injury
(more…)

The Impact Of Contributory Negligence On A Personal Injury Claim

As lawyers we are often consulted by prospective clients inquiring about whether they “have a case.” Sometimes they do and sometimes they do not. Oftentimes those who do not have cases are themselves guilty of contributory negligence. In Georgia, this is a very difficult problem to overcome because typically juries are not as likely to award damages to someone who substantially contributed to their own injuries due to their own negligence.
A classic case of contributory negligence is where a motorist is approaching an intersection
(more…)

Assessing Damages In Serious Burn Injury Cases

Unfortunately, in the normal course of our law practice, we have encountered clients who have sustained serious burn injuries. These cases are always extremely painful for clients and oftentimes results in permanent disfigurement. Indeed, a burn injury is one of the most painful injuries anyone can sustain and unfortunately we have seen them arise in a variety of contexts, whether it be gasoline fires after automobile accidents, accidents within the home due to defective products and/or chemical burns sustained on the job.
One of
(more…)

Fatal Police Chase Results In Dismissal Of State Trooper

We read in this weekend’s news accounts that a Georgia State Patrol Trooper had been fired for failing to exercise “due regard” for the safety of the public while he was allegedly responding and on his way to aid another trooper involved in a high speed police chase on Interstate I-20. On New Years Eve, an innocent motorist was killed when this Georgia State Patrol Officer allegedly ran a red light and struck the vehicle occupied by the decedent.

(more…)

Another Police Chase Kills Another Innocent Person–the Wife of Atlanta Braves Trainer Jeff Porter

Too familiar is this week’s tragic story of how a police cruiser struck an innocent motorist and caused the death of Kathy Porter, wife of Atlanta Braves Head Athletic Trainer Jeff Porter.
Late Saturday afternoon, the Porters were among many fans driving to the Chick-fil-A bowl in downtown Atlanta–a short distance from the Braves’ home at Turner Field. A Georgia State Patrol cruiser–reportedly speeding on city streets to join a chase of a motorcyclist on I-20– crashed into the Porters’ Ford Expedition on the passenger
(more…)

Secret Link