Atlanta Injury Law Blog

In Albany Bone & Joint Clinic PC v. Philip D. Hajek MD, the Georgia Court of Appeals ruled on 3/11/05 that a medical clinic’s bylaws, which entitled all departing shareholders to the book value of their stock, did not constitute a financial “penalty” on shareholders who left the clinic to work for a competitor. The…

A federal court win for the home team was just published at Giddens v.The Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States, 356 F.Supp.2d 1313(N.D.Ga.,2004) [Westlaw $$$]. We represented a dentist / real estate developer on a disability insurance claim after he had liver failure requiring a liver transplant at the Mayo Clinic. The insurance…

Arkansas City, Kansas, 3/23/05. One truck driver was killed in a crash caused by another truck driver attempting a u-turn on I-35 at 5 AM. See article. U-turn on the interstate? The list of potential violations of state traffic laws (improper turning, failure to yield, etc.) and Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (failure to obey…

Near Poplarville, MS, at 2:44 AM 3/16/05, three 18-wheelers crashed and shut down the Interstate for several hours. The mess began when automobile carrier lost control and veered across the median, The trailer, which was carrying vehicles, came to rest blocking the roadway. Then another 18-wheeler struck the trailer, followed by a third 18-wheeler. Both…

On I-65 in Kentucky, about 10:30 PM on 3/23/05, a semitrailer driver fell asleep at the wheel and caused a multiple-car pileup that left one man dead. His semitrailer crossed the median into the northbound lane and clipped the rear of another semitrailer. A flatbed utility truck then ran into the back of the second…

A truck driver from Pooler, Georgia was killed at 4 AM on 3/24/05, when his semitrailer veered off northbound I-95 in South Carolina, and crashed into a grove of trees in the median. A police spokesman said, “We don’t know if it was a medical condition or if he fell asleep or what at this…

Nearly 23,000 pounds of bell peppers en route from El Salvador to Canada spilled Wednesday when a tractor-trailer flipped, forcing authorities to close northbound lanes of Interstate 65 in northern Alabama for 15 hours. Alabama state troopers confiscated beer cans from the scene. See Decatur Daily article and WAFF News story. 49 CFR § 382.201…

Last week Judge Tony DelCampo in the State Court of DeKalb County held unconstitutional a provision of Georgia’s new tort reform statute affecting venue in medical malpractice cases. Section 9-10-31(c) provides for a medical malpractice defendant to transfer venue to the county where a negligent act occurred. Judge DelCampo held that this provision violates the…

In San Luis Obispo, at 1:49 AM on 3/22/05, a local radio personality was killed when his vehicle struck the side of a tractor-trailer rig that got stuck over an hour earlier in the middle of a U-turn, blocking all lanes. Police were setting out flares, but had not yet set flares on the side…

The General Assembly could pass legislation this week to dismantle the state Department of Motor Vehicle Safety, though it’s not clear why. See article. “Representatives of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and the Federal Highway Administration indicated that, historically, there is a transition period after this type of change of 1 to 4 years…