The Fulton County Daily Report published an article on April 19th, reporting that Judge Rowland Barnes’ widow may sue for negligent courthouse security. Judge Barnes, along with his court reporter and a deputy sheriff, were killed on March 11th after Brian Nichols, defendant in a rape trial, overwhelmed a female deputy sheriff and took her…
Continue reading ›Jennifer Wilbanks went for a run a few evenings before the big wedding she had planned, and kept running. She took a cab to the bus station and turned up in Albequerque several days later with a false report that she had been abducted. A media feeding frenzy ensued, helping to boost cable news ratings…
Continue reading ›A Continental Express truck driver whose negligent driving in July 2004 killed a Nashville, TN, police officer may have been legally disqualified from driving due under the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations due to prior incidents of speeding and reckless driving. See news story. The Shigley Law Firm represents plaintiffs in wrongful death and catastrophic…
Continue reading ›The current Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulation on entry level truck driver training (FMCSA 380.503, requires a mere 10 hours of training that includes instruction in hours of service, wellness and whistleblower protection as well as driving. No mandatory training exists to teach someone how to actually drive a truck on an actual highway as…
Continue reading ›According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the number of highway deaths attributable to large trucks rose for the second year in a row in 2004, increasing by 3.7 percent and topping 5,000 for the first time since 2002. The increase to 5,169 deaths follows a 1 percent gain in 2003, when truck-related fatalities…
Continue reading ›A litte over two months after the General Assembly passed Senate Bill 3, my extremely unscientific survey indicates that the new new Offer of Judgment rule in OCGA 9-11-68 is getting little use. We are not seeing the kind of massive and abusive use of this rule that many of us had feared. I have…
Continue reading ›A.M. Best reported on 4/25/05 that “the U.S. property/casualty industry reported improved operating results in 2004 for the second straight year,” and that “for the first time since 1978, underwriting results were profitable, with a combined ratio of 97.9.” Invested assets were up 17% from 2003, and surplus grew at a 13.5% rate, and return…
Continue reading ›Some disability insurance companies have attempted a perplexing defense with insureds whose declining health has led to a period of unemployment prior to filing a claim for disability benefits. The argument is that the sick insured had not been working, had therefore abandoned his occupation, and having no longer having a gainful occupation from which…
Continue reading ›Georgia law does not require total helplessness, or a strict and literal interpretation to total disability income policies, but employs a reasonable interpretation in light of the insured’s customary occupation, experience, education, and physical and mental capabilities. In Parker v. Prudential Insurance Company of America, 224 Ga.App. 865, 482 S.E.2d 483 (1997), the Georgia Court…
Continue reading ›The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has determined that bus driver fatigue combined with poor brake maintenance by a trucking company tired driver to kill eight on a Texas church bus in 2003. As is commonly the case, the church that owned the bus was never informed that it was required to comply with Federal…
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