Articles Posted in Tort Reform in Georgia

In a case of negligent security against a commercial property owner, Couch v. Red Roof Inns Inc., S12Q0625, the Georgia Supreme Court last week upheld Georgia’s apportionment statute, O.C.G.A. § 51-12-33. In a 5 -2 decision, with Justice Benham and Presiding Justice Hunstein dissenting, the Georgia Supreme Court found that (1) the jury is allowed…

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…

In the past 10 days this plaintiffs’ trial lawyer, in the capacity of State Bar of Georgia president, has co-presided over a joint meeting of the State Bar Executive Committee and the Georgia Supreme Court, had a joint press conference with the Attorney General of Georgia and spoke at a lunch meeting that included general…

As president of the State Bar of Georgia, I have occasion to work on a number of issues and controversies beyond the scope of my own personal injury, wrongful death and commercial trucking accident trial practice.  The following is excerpted from an article by Kathleen Joyner in the Fulton County Daily Report on September 23,…

The Georgia Supreme Court issued a landmark decision today, in FLORES et al. v. EXPREZIT! STORES, holding that a convenience store that sold a 12 pack of beer to a visibly intoxicated customer could be accountable for the injuries and deaths that resulted. The Georgia dram shop statute, OCGA § 51-1-40, provides: (a) The General…

I applaud the decision of the Republicans newly in control of the United States House of Representatives to read the entire United States Constitution on the first day of the new Congress. Everyone in government should keep the Constitution firmly in mind. The commitment of  constitutional conservatives’  to our country’s founding principles is widely known.…

As a lawyer in Atlanta representing injured people in Georgia, I was disappointed when a three judge panel of the Georgia Court of Appeals interpreted OCGA 51-12-33 to require apportionment of damages among multiple parties — whether or not they are in the case and whether or not they can be held legally or financially…

In a column in the San Antonio Express-News (7/9), Scott Stroud writes, All of a sudden, with oil from the Deepwater Horizon rig threatening to ruin the entire Gulf of Mexico, limits on legal liability don’t look so good. Charles M. Silver, the McDonald Chair in Civil Procedure at the University of Texas at Austin,…

Five years after passage of legislation to limit rights of people who have been injured, the Georgia Supreme Court on March 22 unanimously held unconstitutional the $350,000 arbitrary cap on noneconomic damages in medical negligence cases. The “one size fits all” limitation on damages was found to violate the right to jury trial under the…

As an Atlanta trial attorney representing folks who are badly hurt in interstate commercial trucking accidents, and the survivors of those who are killed, I spend a lot of my time flying around the country to take depositions of trucking company executives and truck drivers, and briefing issues under federal motor carrier safety law. It’s a…