Most bright middle school students probably have a working knowledge of the concept of hearsay, simply as gossip. “He said she said” does not mean the statement is true. Hearsay as a legal rather than merely social concept is part of the law of evidence. The Georgia rule on hearsay will change on January 1st,…
Continue reading ›Georgia law on the trial of personal injury cases has for most of my career provided for exclusion of evidence of settlements of claims arising from prior injuries. Now the Court of Appeals has cracked open the door to evidence that in the past has been excluded. In the case of Goforth v. Wigley, 178…
Continue reading ›Georgia State Capitol 1904 The Georgia Chamber of Commerce held a forum on tort reform last week. According to today’s Daily Report, Rep. Rich Golick, chair of the House Non-Civil Judiciary Committee who is a corporate attorney for Allstate Insurance Company in his “day job,” told the attendees: “Go talk to the plaintiffs bar. ……
Continue reading ›Do advocates of more “loser pays” rules offer a solution in search of a problem? Are people unaware of the “loser pays” sanctions that are already part of Georgia law? As discussed in previous posts, Georgia already has five statutory “loser pays” rules, four of which passed in tort reform legislation during the time I…
Continue reading ›Brig. Gen. Thomas R. R. Cobb, father of Georgia’s first “loser pays” statute” The oldest of the five “loser pays” rules in existing Georgia law has been in effect for nearly 150 years, having first appeared in the Code of 1863. That Code was largely the work product of Thomas R. R. Cobb, son-in-law of…
Continue reading ›Before rushing into legislation to create yet another “loser pays” rule in Georgia law, it is useful to examine the five forms of “loser pays” rules we already have. I wrote earlier about OCGA 9-11-68 (offer of judgment / offer of settlement rule and frivolous claims and defenses rule) and OCGA 9-11-14 (no justiciable issue,…
Continue reading ›“Loser pays” is a popular theme among advocates of “tort reform,” many of whom may not understand what the popular political calls for “loser pays” or “tort reform” really mean in any detail. Perhaps some people who say they are for it do not understand that Georgia already has five “loser pays” rules that have…
Continue reading ›We hear talk of another round of “tort reform” legislation including a “loser pays” rule. But some of the folks talking about it may not realize that Georgia already has five different “loser pays” rules. One of the five forms of “loser pays” rules in Georgia is in O.C.G.A. § 9-11-68. Passed as part of…
Continue reading ›People who have suffered a serious personal injury, and families that have lost the breadwinner due to wrongful death, may be tempted to file for protection of a Bankruptcy Court. However, we warn clients that it is generally a very bad idea. Why is that? Upon filing of a petition for bankruptcy, control of the…
Continue reading ›Baseball has been called the great American pastime. We all love an occasional trip to Turner Field to watch the Braves, and nothing can compare with family outings to minor league baseball games in smaller cities. I have nothing but pleasant memories of the spring and summer afternoons and evenings rooting for my son in…
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