Personal Injury

Mandatory Arbitration Clauses Deprive Consumers of Basic Rights

Get a credit card, buy a car, or sign up for a cellphone plan, and chances are, if you’re unhappy with your transaction, you won’t be telling your story to a judge. Many consumer contracts include unfair mandatory arbitration clauses that force individuals to go through arbitration, instead of civil court, if a dispute arises. Mandatory arbitration clauses tend to give companies, not the public, protection because the arbitration process can be costly and the time to make a case is limited.
Consumer lawyers contend
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MEDICAL MALPRACTICE IN GEORGIA

In 2005, the Georgia General Assembly enacted the so-called “Tort Reform” Act which greatly affected medical negligence claims in the State of Georgia. The stated intent was to lower insurance rates for physicians and healthcare providers. However, while severely restricting the rights of individual citizens to seek redress in the Courts, and increasing the burdens on plaintiff’s lawyers, the insurance rates of healthcare providers have not decreased.
While the requirements of bringing a medical malpractice case and the standards for obtaining experts have been greatly
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Reduction in Value: A Misnomer in the Wrongful Death Context

Recognizing the time value of money, Georgia law requires that an award of damages representing a present compensation for any future pecuniary loss be reduced to its “present value.” In some ways this is common sense. If, as the result of a wrongful death, wages for the next 20 years have been lost, it is reasonable that such economic damages be reduced to present cash value in order for a present day award to be fair to both sides. A verdict is being returned today,
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An Estate’s Claim in a Georgia Wrongful Death Case

Georgia law is unique in the context of a wrongful death action in that it divides a wrongful death claim into two parts. The first part, which we have previously blogged about, involves the rights of the survivors of the deceased to seek compensation for “the full value” of the life of the decedent. The second part of such a claim involves claims that the personal representative of the deceased may bring separately. This includes claims for funeral bills, medical bills which were incurred prior
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Proving Non-Economic Damages in a Wrongful Death Case

In a Georgia wrongful death case, it is important that the plaintiff establish all economic and non-economic damages caused by the wrongful death. Economic damages obviously include an analysis of how much income and wage was lost by the untimely demise of the decedent. Proving non-economic damages, however, does not involve an economic analysis but instead involves a presentation of the intangible components of the decedent’s life. In Georgia, in particular, it is important that a wrongful death claimant establish this aspect of “the full
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Suing Drunk Drivers for Punitive Damages

In Georgia, juries are not reluctant to impose punitive damages against drunk drivers. It is common knowledge that drunk driving is a grave danger to the motoring public. Anyone who gets behind the wheel after having consumed intoxicating drugs or beverages obviously poses a risk of danger to the public. In Georgia, many years ago, the Georgia Legislature limited the imposition of punitive damages in tort cases to $250,000.00. This limitation in punitive damage awards was part of a “tort reform” effort of the business
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Proving Economic Damages in a Wrongful Death Case

In terms of a jury presentation, attorneys often disagree about the best approach to demonstrate the economic losses caused by a wrongful death. If the decedent was a substantial wage earner who lost, not only substantial earnings, but also valuable fringe benefits such as 401(k), profit sharing and other similar benefits, one school of thought is to hire an economist who can project for a jury the lost income stream over the working life of the decedent (typically up to age 65 or 70) and
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Wrongful Death Actions in Georgia: Who Has The Right to Sue?

Georgia’s law on the wrongful death of an individual has several unique provisions. If a deceased is survived by a spouse or if there is no surviving spouse, a child or children, either may recover the full value of the life of the decedent as shown by the evidence. A surviving spouse, if there is one, is the sole person who may bring a wrongful death claim. Interestingly, a surviving spouse does not have to be married to the deceased spouse at the time the
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The Use of Medical Narrative Reports in Serious Injury Cases

Until a few years ago, a plaintiff in a personal injury or serious injury lawsuit had to take the deposition testimony of all treating physicians in order to be able to introduce the deposition for a jury’s consideration. This is because testimony by a doctor without being subject to cross-examination would be considered hearsay and therefore not admissible. To resolve the problem and expense associated with every single plaintiff’s lawyer representing a personal injury claimant having to take medical testimony by way of depositions, and
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Damages in a Georgia Wrongful Death Case

In a Wrongful Death case, Georgia law allows recovery for “the full value of the life of the deceased with deduction for ordinary and necessary expenses had he/she lived.” See O.C.G.A. § 51-4-1 et. seq. The term “full value of life” is somewhat elusive on its face but nonetheless, Georgia law is quite clear that the measure of damages in a wrongful death case includes both economic and non-economic damages.

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Motorcycles and Drunk Drivers: A Deadly Combination

We read in the paper this week about a tragedy involving a motorcyclist who was struck and killed by a drunk driver. According to news accounts, the drunk driver was completely at fault in the incident and struck the innocent motorcycle rider from the rear. Regrettably, this case is indicative of the dangers to which all motorcycle riders are exposed. Such dangers are exponentially increased, obviously, when a drunk driver is involved.
We read in the paper this week about a tragedy involving a motorcyclist
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Dangerous Glass Products and Preventable Injuries

Approximately 2 years ago we published an article on the dangers of unsafe and dangeous glass products. We re-print this article because of the tragic death of a young woman who fell to her death this week after falling through a window at a hotel in downtown Atlanta. This accident was preventable but occurred because safety glass was apparently not properly used. In today’s modern age, with the known dangers involved, this is inexcusable. Our earlier blog entry is posted again in view of this
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Unit Measurement Approach When Discussing Wrongful Death Damages

If a 28 year old male is killed and hypothetically he should have a 48 year life expectancy, when killed at age 28, the decedent has lost 46 years of his life according to the Annuity Mortality Tables of most states. Forty-eight years translates into 46 years times 365 days a year times 16 hours a day of consciousness (46x365x16=268,640 hours). Because we sleep for 8 hours a day, if one argues before a jury that the decedent would have consciously enjoyed life for 46
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Measuring Damages In Wrongful Death Cases

As every individual is unique, so is the challenge faced by a trial attorney in trying to address a jury on the issue of the proper measurement of damages in the wrongful death case of any individual. All individuals are different. They come from different backgrounds and they are different ages, sexes, races, nationalities and religious beliefs. Whoever the unfortunate victim in a wrongful death case may be, the challenge is coming up with the best assessment of addressing damages when trying to obtain
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The Centers For Disease Control Releases Wrongful Death Statistics

According to a recently released report authored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, car accident cases and wrongful deaths cost the State of Georgia approximately $1.5 billion in the calendar year 2005. Regrettably, this is the most recent data which as been collated and studied. Nationwide, car accident related deaths cost approximately $41 billion. Georgia ranked number 4 among 10 other states with the highest medical and work lost costs associated with preventable deaths caused by motor vehicle collisions.
Obviously, much can
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New Georgia Law Designed To Prevent Injury To Children

Georgia Governor Nathan Deal has signed a new law requiring all children under the age of 7 to be placed in booster seats unless they are over 40 pounds in weight and/or stand more than 4 feet 9 inches tall. The new law will go into effect this coming January to give parents time to purchase booster seats if needed. The reason for the new law: Protection of our children. Authorities have tracked injuries to children over the last five years and have determined that
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Mammogram Recommendations Disputed By Scientific Studies

Women under 50 who follow the advice of a U.S. panel to forgo annual mammograms may be at risk for more severe forms of breast cancer
Three recent studies led by radiologists suggest that failing to get regular breast screenings left women more likely to discover cancer at an advanced stage. The delay resulted in larger tumors and a worse prognosis once the cancer was uncovered, the data found.
The U.S. Preventative Services Task Force said in 2009 that most women ages 40 to 49
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Nursing Home Infection Rates Increase

Infections are now the number one cause of deaths in nursing homes, causing nearly 400,000 deaths annually.
A study published in the May issue of The America Journal of Infection Control reports that 15% of American nursing homes each year receive deficiency citations for infection control.
The study, conducted by researchers at the University of Pittsburgh’s Graduate School of Public Health, looked at deficiency data collected from about 16,000 nursing homes per year between 2000 to 2007 as part of Medicare/Medicaid certification.
The researchers reported
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Medical Errors Can Be Reduced

Preventable medical errors kill thousands of Americans every year.
A recent study found that nearly one out of three hospital patients is harmed by the care they receive. The Institute of Medicine, an independent nonprofit organization within the National Academy of Sciences which works to provide unbiased advice to decision makers within the medical community, estimates that as many as 100,000 Americans die each year from preventable medical errors in hospitals. This is approximately the same number of annual deaths caused by auto accidents, AIDS,
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Construction Accidents And Third Party Claims

When an employee is injured on a job site, particularly on a construction job site, unfortunately the injuries sustained can be serious. Heavy equipment is typically involved on large commercial construction projects and it is not unusual for construction workers on large construction projects to be exposed to a variety of different dangers during the work day. If an employee is injured on the job, under our Workers’ Compensation laws, the claim will primarily have to be brought against the employer’s workers’ compensation insurance
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