Atlanta Injury Law Blog

Ken Shigley, past president of the State Bar of Georgia, has become chair of the Motor Vehicle Collision, Highway and Premises Liability Section of the American Association for Justice. With about 2,500 members, this is the largest practice area section of the AAJ. Shigley took the helm of the section at its annual business meeting on June…

It comes without warning. One moment you are driving to work, picking up your children, or heading home — and then a collision changes everything. In the hours and days after a serious Georgia car accident, the decisions you make can protect or undermine a legal claim worth tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars.…

By Ken Shigley, Past President of the State Bar of Georgia | Johnson & Ward, Atlanta Three days after a rear-end collision on I-285, a driver gets a phone call. The other driver’s insurance company offers a settlement that sounds reasonable — until the medical bills arrive weeks later and the total several times more…

Injured in an Atlanta car accident? Learn the critical steps to take in the first 24 hours to protect your health, your rights, and your compensation claim. The I-285 interchange at Spaghetti Junction is an iconic symbol of Atlanta traffic. That one exchange handles over 300,000 vehicles every day. On any given afternoon, a split-second…

In nearly a half-century as a Georgia lawyer, starting when we had spittoons in jury boxes, bailiffs called greenhorn lawyers “Colonel,” and computers were just huge mainframes in large institutions, I have seen a lot of change. I have tried serious injury cases for over forty years. Years ago, I saw terribly low verdicts for…

Log trucks hauling tree-length loads of pulp wood to paper and fiberboard mills extending far beyond a trailer’s end present nasty hazards on rural Georgia’s highways. Drivers approaching log trucks from the rear or side on dark roads are at risk of being impaled or beheaded. Extensive experience has taught us the problems and some…

When choosing a personal injury law firm in Atlanta, the important factors are experience with serious injury cases, board-certified trial lawyers, professional leadership, and legal scholarship, not advertising. Firms with long-standing practices have institutional knowledge of Georgia tort law, insurance tactics, and jury behavior. Lawyers who hold national board certifications and who have written and…

Car accidents can injure the vagus nerve through whiplash, chest trauma, or seatbelt compression, disrupting autonomic control of heart rate, blood pressure, digestion, and swallowing. Symptoms may include fainting, dizziness, cardiac rhythm abnormalities, gastrointestinal dysfunction, and difficulty swallowing. Because vagus nerve injuries often involve delayed or multi-system symptoms, they are frequently overlooked without specialized medical…

Georgia personal injury claims generally must be filed within two years of the date of injury under O.C.G.A. § 9-3-33. Important exceptions may apply, including tolling for pending criminal charges, wrongful death claims measured from the date of death, extended deadlines for minors and legally incompetent persons, and strict pre-suit notice requirements for claims against…

I don’t put a lot of stock in college rankings in US News and other publications. The formulas are too contrived, too subject to manipulation and present too great a temptation for institutions to misplace priorities in order to rank higher. They can distort high education much as over emphasis on standardized testing has distorted…