Personal Injury

Legal Status Of Injured Person Determines Duty Owed By Premises Owner

In Georgia, owners and occupiers of land or buildings owe certain duties to those who come on the premises. The duties vary according to the relationship between the owner and the person coming onto the premises. The mere fact that one owns or occupies land or a building does not make one liable for injuries sustained by persons who have entered onto the land or the premises. It is a commonly accepted in Georgia law that the owner of a building or land is not
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Dangerous Toys Recalled

Toy maker Mattel, Inc. issued recalls yesterday for about 9 million Chinese made toys that could be potentially dangerous for children. The recalls were negotiated by the Consumer Products Safety Commission. The majority of the toys subject to the recall contain magnets that can be swallowed by children and the rest have lead paint. The recall includes play sets, including the Polly Pocket dolls and Batman action figures as well as almost a quarter of a million die cast cars that contains lead paint.
This
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Cell Phone Battery Danger Warning

Nokia Corp. warned Tuesday that up to 46 million batteries used in some of its cell phones could pose a serious risk of overheating. The batteries subject to the warning were manufactured by Matsushita from December 2005 to November 2006. Matsushita Battery Industrial Co. Ltd. of Japan is one of several suppliers that have together made some 300 million BL-5C batteries.
Nokia is the world’s largest mobile phone maker. The lithium-ion battery is one of 14 different types of battery used in Nokia phones.
Nokia
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Health Court Bills In Congress

Legislation is being considered in both houses of Congress to fund pilot projects in 10 states that would create administrative panels known as “health courts.” This legislation is being strongly supported the medical and insurance lobby. The legislation is based on systems in Scandinavia and New Zealand. The state of Florida also has an existing administrative procedure for dealing with birth-related neurological injuries.
The legislation, if passed in its current form, would eliminate jury trials in medical negligence cases. The standard by which the actions
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Criminal Charges In Big Dig Tunnel Collapse

Powers Fasteners Inc., the company that provided the epoxy adhesive blamed in the fatal Boston Big Dig tunnel collapse was indicted this week in the death of a woman killed on July 10, 2006, when tons of falling concrete crushed her automobile. Milena Del Valle, 39, was killed when as she and her husband drove through the Big Dig tunnel. Her husband escaped with only minor injuries.
An investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board concluded the collapse could have been avoided if designers and
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Mediation of Tort Claims

Our lawyers have successfully represented many clients at mediations, covering a wide range of actions such as truck accidents, medical malpractice, auto collisions, and premises liability. Our experiences have led us to conclude that, under the right circumstances, mediation can be of great benefit to plaintiffs. It generally allows the matter to be concluded long before a trial can be scheduled, removes the risks associated with the trial of some cases, and allows the client to control the result, as opposed to a jury, judge,
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Sovereign Immunity Precludes Many Valid Lawsuits

Many state, county, and local governments are protected from lawsuits even though their employees may have been extremely negligent in causing severe injuries to innocent citizens. In most instances, the doctrine of sovereign immunity precludes a lawsuit against these entities, unless the governing body, such as the legislature, has waived the protection of sovereign immunity. Even when there has been a waiver, it is generally restricted to a maximun amount of recovery.
For example, in a ruling involving last summers deadly Comair plane crash at
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Katrina Victims Lose To The Insurance Industry

The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans ruled Aug. 2, 2007, in In re Katrina Canal Breaches Litigation, No. 07-30119, that property owners in New Orleans whose buildings were flooded as a result of levee breaches in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina cannot recover losses from their insurance companies because of the flood exclusions in their insurance policies. Thousands of policyholders of various insurance companies will be affected by the ruling and it is estimated that the policyholders may have to absorb losses
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Visibility Factors in Nightime Truck Accidents

The lack of visibility of large trucks on the road after dark is a major factor in many accidents which our lawyers have investigated. The scientific term used to describe this area of study is “conspicuity.” Conspicuity refers to the factors of (1) perceiving that something is on the dark road ahead, (2) identifying the object as a large truck, (3) appreciating the truck’s position and slower speed as a danger, and (4) stimulating you to take evasive maneuvers to avoid the imminent collision.
Many
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Pedestrian Injury and Death in Atlanta, Georgia

Atlanta has previously been identified as one of the most dangerous large metropolitan area in the country for pedestrians. Although statistics are not always accessible, in the calendar year 2001, for example, 64 pedestrians were reported killed in Atlanta. Throughout the State of Georgia, more than two-thirds (2/3) of pedestrian fatalities occurred on neighborhood streets, which helps explain why pedestrian injury is the second leading cause of death for children age 5 to 9. Another problem, particularly prevalent in Atlanta, are unsafe sidewalks. While the
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