No matter how many years a lawyer has practiced, there is no end to the need for exposure to bright new ideas from the best lawyers around the United States.

Over the past year, I had the opportunity to serve as chair of the Motor Vehicle Collision, Highway and Premises Liability Section of the American Association for Justice (AAJ). The largest section of AAJ, it encompasses the work of most “meat and potatoes” personal injury and wrongful death lawyers in America.

The section includes over 2,500 trial lawyers in all 50 states and specialized litigation groups on trucking litigation, bus litigation, traumatic brain injury (TBI), spinal cord injury (SCI), motorcycle litigation, bicycle litigation, resorts torts litigation and inadequate security litigation. The section and its litigation groups have active listservs for exchange of bright ideas.

Having worked for decades in all of these areas of personal injury litigation, chairing the section for a year was like a year of graduate school in my practice area.

After I became chair last year in Montreal, we sponsored national continuing legal education programs in New Orleans and Los Angeles, and I was moderator of an advocacy seminar at Boca Raton.  Presentations in our programs in the past year in seminars at Montreal, Boca Raton, New Orleans and Los Angeles included:

• Accident Investigation and Reconstruction in Motor Vehicle Cases
• Bus Cases Are Different From Auto Cases: Investigation and Evidence
• Cross-Examination of A Defense Medical Examiner, With Rules Of The Road™
• Daubert Motions In Motor Vehicle And Premises Cases
• Industry Standards: Evidence of Negligence in Premises Liability Cases
• Investigation and Discovery in a Sexual Assault Case
• Liability and Causation Defenses in the Typical Auto Case
• Rules Of The Road for Security and Violent Crime Cases
• Trying Better, Faster, And Cheaper!
• Twenty-Minute Auto Wreck Case Voir Dire
• Why I Handle Negligent Security Cases
• Greyhound’s “Most Precious Cargo”
• Making Small Cases Big Cases
• Eliminating the Soft Tissue Myth: Spine Injuries Are Serious
• Deposition
• Practicing In Multiple States
• Using Social Network Sites in Trucking and Motor Carrier Cases
• Trying High-Profile Motor Vehicle and Premises Cases
• Self-Driving Cars and Crash Avoidance Systems: The Future of Car Crashes
• Truck Crash Litigation For The Car Crash Lawyer
• Safe Or Scary: Negligent Security In Schools, Colleges, And Day Care
• Effects And Ethics Of Social Media In A Personal Injury Case
• Taking Down The Defense Medical Examiner
• How To Zealously Represent Victims Of Sexual Assaults While Protecting Your Client
• Auto Defect Cases: The Future Of Your Auto Practice

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Ken Shigley is a past president of the State Bar of Georgia, past chair of the American Association for Justice Motor Vehicle Collision, Highway and Premises Liability Section, and a board certified civil trial attorney of the National Board of Trial Advocacy. His statewide law practice is based in Atlanta.  Ken Shigley is a candidate for election to the Georgia Court of Appeals in 2018.

Every summer thousands of metro Atlanta residents take to the surrounding lakes in boats. And every summer we see fresh cases of boating accidents, often collisions between watercraft in which someone is drinking alcohol, often at night, killing or injuring people involved. Boating under the influence is a major hazard on Georgia lakes.

Last July on Lake Lanier, a fishing boat collided with a pontoon boat at night, immediately causing the deaths of two young brothers.The operator of the fishing boat failed a field sobriety test and refused to take a blood alcohol test. He was charged with boating under the influence, first-degree homicide by vessel, refusing to render aid and several other offenses. This week Hall County Superior Court Judge Kathy Gosselin denied a defense motion to dismiss those charges.

This incident, among others, helped prod the Georgia General Assembly to pass legislation

earlier this year to lower the blood alcohol limit for boat operators to 0.08 gr/%, the same for regular motor vehicles on the roads. Governor Nathan Deal, who is from Gainesville on Lake Lanier, is dead serious about cracking down on boating under the influence in order to save lives on Georgia’s lakes.

Nationally, according to the US Coast Guard, in 2012 some 4515 recreational boating accidents caused 651 deaths and 3000 injuries. The fatality rate was 5.4 deaths per 100,000 registered recreational vessels. The Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, which deals with accidental injury risks as well as communicable diseases,  says alcohol use affects judgment, vision, balance, and coordination, is involved in about a third of all recreational boating fatalities, and is just as dangerous as driving under the influence on land.

Georgia boaters should study the Georgia boating safety rules including those on unsafe operation, accidents and casualties, and alcohol, take a boating safety course and generally increase their awareness of water safety and boating safety issues.

Unfortunately for victims, Georgia law still lags on financial responsibility for boating, as insurance is not required for a boat license. That may be an issue for legislators to consider in the future.  However, smart boat owners carry liability insurance for their boats and personal water craft. Representation of boating accident victims requires knowledgeable counsel who can make a thorough exploration of all insurance coverage possibilities.

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Ken Shigley is past president of the State Bar of Georgia (2011-12), is double board certified in civil trial advocacy and civil pretrial advocacy by the National Board of Legal Specialty Certification, published a book on trial preparation, and has a selective personal injury and wrongful death law trial practice based in Atlanta.

I do not expect any favoritism from anyone as cases must be decided on their merits.  But if a friend or family member has a catastrophic injury or wrongful death case, would it be smarter to hire a lawyer based on a sleazy TV ad or to hire one who has recognized credentials and is known to decision makers?

Whether you choose me or someone else, by all means choose a serious lawyer for any serious case. Understand that the lawyers who spend millions on TV ads operate settlement mills, never take cases to trial, and insurance companies know they will generally settle for 10% of fair case value.

6. Investigate the case yourself.

Use Open Records Act requests to obtain all police photos and dashcam video,  and 911 logs and recordings. As soon as practicable, visit the scene of the incident in person and interview the reporting officer. When appropriate meet with the officer at the scene. Go see the vehicles in the junk yard. Get good photographs, though you may need to have someone else take the photos, hold the measuring tape, etc.  Interview witnesses. Consider use of investigators, but don’t rely solely upon them.

The Georgia dram shop statute, OCGA § 51-1-40, provides:

(a) The General Assembly finds and declares that the consumption of alcoholic beverages, rather than the sale or furnishing or serving of such beverages, is the proximate cause of any injury, including death and property damage, inflicted by an intoxicated person upon himself or upon another person, except as otherwise provided in subsection (b) of this Code section.
(b) A person who sells, furnishes, or serves alcoholic beverages to a person of lawful drinking age shall not thereby become liable for injury, death, or damage caused by or resulting from the intoxication of such person, including injury or death to other persons; provided, however, a person who willfully, knowingly, and unlawfully sells, furnishes, or serves alcoholic beverages to a person who is not of lawful drinking age, knowing that such person will soon be driving a motor vehicle, or who knowingly sells,
furnishes, or serves alcoholic beverages to a person who is in a state of noticeable intoxication, knowing that such person will soon be driving a motor vehicle, may become liable for injury or damage caused by or resulting from the intoxication of such minor or person when the sale, furnishing, or serving is the proximate cause of such injury or damage.

The Georgia Court of Appeals had held  the dram shop act does not apply under any circumstances to the sale of closed or packaged alcoholic beverages not intended for consumption on the premises.

However, the Supreme Court reversed, holding that

“because statute uses the terms ‘sells, furnishes, or serves’ alcohol in the disjunctive, it is clear that it was intended to encompass the sale of an alcoholic beverage at places other than the proverbial dram shop. . . . We find [the] statutory requirements to be straightforward and under the plain language of the statute are equally applicable to convenience stores and traditional dram shops.”

We are currently working on a wrongful death case that is likely to involve the dram shop statute. While it involves a disreputable night club rather than a relatively respectable convenience store, the holding in this case may serve to strengthen dram shop cases generally.

Ignition interlocks, or in-car breathalyzers, are devices that can be installed in vehicles to prevent people who have consumed alcohol from driving. They are most often installed after a driver has been convicted of DUI/DWI, in order to prevent them from driving drunk again and causing personal injury or wrongful death to innocent people in auto accidents on the roads.

According to a report from the Centers for Disease Control, ignition interlocks can reduce the rate of re-arrest among convicted drunk drivers by  67%.

However, only 13 states require interlocks for all convicted DUI/DWI offenders, even on a first conviction.

Georgia’s state government is looking for less expensive ways than incarceration to deal with criminal offenders. There is also an urgent need to cut down on the cost of medical care for uninsured injury victims, the cost of whose care may fall back on local and state governments.

The idea of requiring all convicted drunk drivers to pay for their own ignition interlock devices as a condition of probation might be worth considering.

What do you think?

Ken Shigley is a trial attorney in Atlanta, Georgia who has been listed among the “Legal Elite” (Georgia Trend Magazine), as a “Super Lawyer” (Atlanta Magazine), and in the Bar Register of Preeminent Lawyers (Martindale).  He is a Certified Civil Trial Advocate of the National Board of Trial Advocacy. Mr. Shigley has extensive experience representing parties in trucking and bus accidents, products liability, catastrophic personal injury, wrongful death, brain injury, spinal cord injury and burn injury cases.  Currently he is President-elect of the 42,000 member State Bar of Georgia.

Charges  against Hodges include DUI, first-degree homicide by vehicle, following too closely and reckless driving. On Monday, a judge set bond for Hodges at $310,000.  After the hearing, Rivers’ mother, Shatavia Little, told CBS Atlanta she’s angry that the judge allowed bond for Hodges. “This is not like he hit a squirrel. It’s not like he hit a stray dog. He killed a human being. That’s my baby,” she said.

Georgia wrongful death law provides for recovery of the “full value of the life” of the person killed.

Unfortunately, after any such tragic accident, victims’ families are often immediately besieged by “runners” attempting to unethically solicit for lawyers who are willing to risk disbarment.  Georgia Rule of Professional Conduct 7.3 provides, in part: “A lawyer shall not solicit professional employment as a private practitioner for the lawyer, a partner or associate through direct personal contact or through live telephone contact, with a non-lawyer who has not sought advice regarding employment of a lawyer. . . . The maximum penalty for a violation of this Rule is disbarment.”

Ken Shigley, author of Georgia Law of Torts: Trial Preparation & Practice, is  a Certified Civil Trial Advocate of the National Board of Trial Advocacy, and has been listed as a “Super Lawyer” (Atlanta Magazine), among the “Legal Elite” (Georgia Trend Magazine), and in the Bar Register of Preeminent Lawyers. He practices law at the Atlanta law firm of Chambers, Aholt & Rickard, and has broad experience in catastrophic personal injury, spinal cord injury, wrongful death, products liability,  brain injury and burn injury cases. He is also president-elect of the State Bar of Georgia. Ken and Sally Shigley have been married 27 years and are proud parents of Anne Shigley and Ken Shigley, Jr.  This post is subject to our ethical disclaimer.

A single instance of drunk driving that results in an accident is enough to end a life, maim a person, and ruin a family. Yet, when evaluating charges, a criminal court takes into consideration a person’s prior “clean” record as well as his character before it sentences the driver. This may result in lenient charges and sentences which are “slaps on the hand,” in comparison to the destruction caused by the drunk driver. Families who have lost loved ones or persons who are injured in a drunk driving accident may find they did not receive justice from the criminal system which may have imposed low criminal penalties.

Civil liability in such cases can give a family or the injured individual the justice they wish for by holding a person financially accountable for his negligence. Even if the evidence of intoxication is not sufficient to carry the criminal burden of proof of “beyond a reasonable doubt,” it still can be enough to carry the civil burden of proof of “preponderance of evidence” or “more likely than not.”

An injured person can claim compensation from the negligent motorist for a variety of damages:

• Medical expenses already incurred
• Future medical expenses
• Physical pain
• Mental suffering
• Loss/Destruction of property
• Loss of enjoyment of life
• Permanent physical disability
• Lost wages

In addition, punitive damages may be awarded against a drunk driver.

Family members of a person who was killed by a drunk driver may file a wrongful death claim against the negligent motorist.  In Georgia, the measure of damages for wrongful death is the “full value of the life.”   

In limited circumstances, an employer or  a bar that served alcohol to a person who was already visibly intoxicated, may be held legally responsible.

Drunk driving accidents take a grave toll on society, from the injuries or deaths of loved ones to the costs of paying for the accidents. Persons who engage in this type of driving should be held legally responsible for their actions.

Ken Shigley  is president-elect of the State Bar of Georgia and author of Georgia Law of Torts: Trial Preparation & Practice.  He practices law at the Atlanta law firm of Chambers, Aholt & Rickard.  A Certified Civil Trial Advocate of the National Board of Trial Advocacy, he has been listed as a “Super Lawyer” (Atlanta Magazine), among the “Legal Elite” (Georgia Trend Magazine), and in the Bar Register of Preeminent Lawyers (Martindale). He has broad experience in catastrophic personal injury, wrongful death, products liability,  spinal cord injury, brain injury and burn injury cases.

This post is subject to our ethical disclaimer.

Sunday evening in Gwinnett County, a young mom walked out to the street to tell a driver who had repeatedly sped through her neighborhood to slow down.

But the allegedly drunk driver ran off the road and hit her, crushing her between the front of his truck and another truck that was parked off the street.  She was reportedly killed instantly.

A neighbor said the alleged drunk stopped, walked up, and asked if he had hit a garbage can. Seeing that he had killed a woman, according to media reports, he cursed, parked his truck at the end of the street, and fled on foot.

Constantine Toncz, 39, was soon apprehended and charged with felony vehicular homicide, DUI, and felony leaving the scene of an accident.

That is the sort of case that Assistant District Attorneys would have fought for the chance to take to trial when I was a young prosecutor.

As for the civil side of things, my bet would be that the drunk driver would minimum liability insurance, if any, leaving the decedent’s family to look to uninsured / underinsured motorist coverage.  The chance of someone who served the driver alcohol being liable, particularly on a Sunday evening, is possible but remote.

It is our policy not to include the names of accident victims in blog posts out of respect for privacy of victims and their families.

Ken Shigley is a trial attorney in Atlanta, Georgia who has been listed as a “Super Lawyer” (Atlanta Magazine), among the “Legal Elite” (Georgia Trend Magazine), and in the Bar Register of Preeminent Lawyers (Martindale), and is a Certified Civil Trial Advocate of the National Board of Trial Advocacy,. Mr. Shigley has extensive experience representing parties in trucking and bus accidents, products liability, catastrophic personal injury, wrongful death, brain injury, spinal cord injury and burn injury cases.  Currently he is Secretary (and Treasurer-elect) of the 40,000 member State Bar of Georgia.

Now MADD is proposing legislation to require DUI offenders to have ignition interlock devices — an electronic gadget that keeps a car from starting unless the driver’s breath is alcohol-free — installed on their vehicles after their first DUI conviction.  Judges can now require this after the second DUI conviction.

Sounds like a good idea.

Ken Shigley is an Atlanta, Georgia trial attorney.  A Certified Civil Trial Advocate of the National Board of Trial Advocacy, he has been listed in the Bar Register of Preeminent Lawyers, as a “Super Lawyer” (Atlanta Magazine) and among the “Legal Elite” (Georgia Trend Magazine).  He is currently Secretary of the 40,000 member State Bar of Georgia. He is available for free consultations  about serious injury and wrongful death caes, either online or by toll-free call to (877) 778-7944

A recent New Jersey case is a good illustration of that.

In 1999, an Aramark concession employee at Giants Stadium broke stadium rules by continuing to sell beer to a fan who had been drinking much of the day and was slurring his words. The drunk fan drove away and crashed into a family vehicle, rendering a two year old girl a quadriplegic.  The girl, now 11, is still paralyzed and dependent on a ventilator to breathe.

Three years ago, a jury awarded damages of $105 million.  An appeals court reversed that judgment and ordered a new trial, saying the lower court improperly allowed testimony about the “culture of intoxication” at the stadium. Now the case has been settled, with $23.5 million for the girl and $1.5 million for her mother, who was also injured. There is no further appeal from a settlement.

Having been represented  young quadriplegics with well-designed life care plans, I know what is involved and how expensive proper lifetime care for a quadriplegic is. 

Since receiving payment on the settlement,  the family began building a handicapped-accessible home equipped with  technology to provide the girl as good a life as she can have as a quadriplegic. The house should be ready by the holidays.

This young girl can only move her head, but with state of the art technology she will be able to control her wheelchair, elevator, TV and computer with her voice.  She will also be able to have  round-the-clock nursing care, which  is necessary in case her ventilator becomes clogged creating a life-or-death situation.

No amount of money can fully compensate a young girl for the loss of the ability to run and play, to hold hands, to enjoy all the blessing of life that the rest of us take for granted. But the money can allow her dignity, humanity, and the best life that is accessible to her.

And maybe, just maybe, this case will make an impression on businesses that serve alcohol around the country, and in that way prevent other tragedies over the years.

Ken Shigley is a Georgia trial lawyer focused on cases of catastrophic personal injury and wrongful death. He has been rated as one of the “Legal Elite” (Georgia Trend Magazine) and a “Super Lawyer” (Atlanta Magazine). He has represented numerous survivors of spinal cord and brain injuries.  A Certified Civil Trial Advocate of the National Board of Trial Advocacy, he served a decade on the faculty of the Emory University Law School Trial Techniques Program.  Mr. Shigley is currently Secretary of the 40,000 member State Bar of Georgia.

The Shigley Law Firm, sponsor of the Georgia MADD web site,  represents plaintiffs in wrongful death and catastrophic injury cases statewide in Georgia, and in other states subject to the multijurisdictional practice and pro hac vice rules in each state. Ken Shigley was designated as a “SuperLawyer” in Atlanta Magazine and one of the “Legal Elite” in Georgia Trend Magazine. He is a Certified Civil Trial Advocate of the National Board of Trial Advocacy. 

The Shigley Law Firm represents plaintiffs in wrongful death and catastrophic injury cases statewide in Georgia, and in other states subject to the multijurisdictional practice and pro hac vice rules in each state. Ken Shigley was designated as a “SuperLawyer” in Atlanta Magazine and one of the “Legal Elite” in Georgia Trend Magazine. He is a Certified Civil Trial Advocate of the National Board of Trial Advocacy, Chair of the Southeastern Motor Carrier Liability Institute and former chair of the Georgia Insurance Law Institute. He particularly focuses on cases arising from truck wrecks and accidents (tractor trailers truck wrecks, semi truck wrecks,18 wheeler truck wrecks, big rig truck wrecks, log truck wrecks, dump truck wrecks).

The Shigley Law Firm represents plaintiffs in wrongful death and catastrophic injury cases statewide in Georgia, and in other states subject to the multijurisdictional practice and pro hac vice rules in each state. Ken Shigley was designated as a “SuperLawyer” in Atlanta Magazine and one of the “Legal Elite” in Georgia Trend Magazine. He is a Certified Civil Trial Advocate of the National Board of Trial Advocacy, Chair of the Southeastern Motor Carrier Liability Institute and former chair of the Georgia Insurance Law Institute. He particularly focuses on cases arising from truck wrecks and accidents (tractor trailers truck wrecks, semi truck wrecks,18 wheeler truck wrecks, big rig truck wrecks, log truck wrecks, dump truck wrecks).

The Shigley Law Firm represents plaintiffs in wrongful death and catastrophic injury cases statewide in Georgia, and in other states subject to the multijurisdictional practice and pro hac vice rules in each state. Ken Shigley was designated as a “SuperLawyer” in Atlanta Magazine and one of the “Legal Elite” in Georgia Trend Magazine. He is a Certified Civil Trial Advocate of the National Board of Trial Advocacy, Chair of the Southeastern Motor Carrier Liability Institute and former chair of the Georgia Insurance Law Institute. He particularly focuses on cases arising from truck wrecks and accidents (tractor trailers truck wrecks, semi truck wrecks,18 wheeler truck wrecks, big rig truck wrecks, log truck wrecks, dump truck wrecks).

The Shigley Law Firm represents plaintiffs in wrongful death and catastrophic injury cases statewide in Georgia, and in other states subject to the multijurisdictional practice and pro hac vice rules in each state. Ken Shigley was designated as a “SuperLawyer” in Atlanta Magazine and one of the “Legal Elite” in Georgia Trend Magazine. He is a Certified Civil Trial Advocate of the National Board of Trial Advocacy, Chair of the Southeastern Motor Carrier Liability Institute and former chair of the Georgia Insurance Law Institute. He particularly focuses on cases arising from truck wrecks and accidents (tractor trailers truck wrecks, semi truck wrecks,18 wheeler truck wrecks, big rig truck wrecks, log truck wrecks, dump truck wrecks).