Articles Posted in Injury Law

The Georgia State Tort Claims Act includes a minefield of procedural requirements for presuit notice of claim and service of claims and suits upon various officials. However, a recent decision written by Supreme Court Chief Justice Leah Sears avoids draconian literalism in at least one of those procedural requirements. It is so technical, and the…

Yesterday the Georgia Court of Appeals ruled for the defense in a sexual harrassment tort suit, rejecting the theories that the employer had ratified the fellow employee’s inappropriate advances, as well as claims against the employer based on theories of negligence and intentional infliction of emotional distress. See the full text below. The Shigley Law…

On 11/8/05, the Georgia Court of Appeals reversed an order of summary judgment in favor of the Georgia Department of Transportation in a case where there was circumstantial evidence that a young driver’s wheels had dropped off the edge of the pavement, causing the driver to lose control and fatally strike a tree. The court…

The Georgia Court of Appeals recently upheld a trial court decision to deny summary judgment in a premises liability case where a customer tripped over gasoline hoses at a convenience store gas station. The defendant had superior knowledge that the length of the non-retractable hoses attached to its gasoline pumps could create a tripping hazard…

Last year, the Tenneessee Supreme Court, in Blair v. West Town Mall, adopted the “mode of operation” doctrine in premises liability cases, holding that “that a premises owner had constructive notice of the presence of a dangerous condition by showing a pattern of conduct, a recurring incident, or a general or continuing condition indicating the…

Plaintiff was entitled to a new trial on damages in his wrongful death action against the defendant doctor after his child was delivered stillborn, since the jury’s award of zero damages after returning a verdict in favor of the plaintiff and his wife was contrary to the law and inconsistent with the evidence. See Court…

Richard S. Markovits, a professor at the University of Texas Law School, has recently published an interesting but academically dense article, “Liberalism and Tort Law: On the Content and Economic Efficiency of a Liberal Common Law of Torts.” While I wish he hadn’t used the political perjorative “L word” (“liberal”), I’ll assume he intended the…

Patrick Hindert over at his blog Beyond Structured Settlements has an interesting post that lists some recommended articles and resources relating to personal injury settlement planning. Among these are: – Getting To Yes: Helping Reluctant Clients See The Benefits Of Settlement, Elaine McArdle, Lawyers Weekly USA (11/2004) offers up tips on bringing clients around to…

Two cases decided in November 2004 help to clarify the often befuddling concept legal doctrine of “proximate cause” in Georgia jury instructions. In John Crane Inc. v. Jones, 278 Ga. 747, 604 S.E.2d 822 (2004), the Supreme Court of Georgia held that it is error to charge that each of multiple defendants must have been…

According to an article in the New York Times on 3/6/05, lawyers in states with caps on noneconomic damages have been largely successful in recasting damages to fit the available categories. The article is titled “Go Ahead. Test a Lawyer’s Ingenuity. Try to Limit Damages.” It cites a new study by Catherine M. Sharkey, a…