Atlanta Injury Law Blog

Advocates of tort reform often call for “loser pays” legislation. Georgia already has five different “loser pays” rules. In earlier posts I have discussed OCGA § 9-11-68, enacted as part of tort reform legislation in 2005, which includes both the offer of judgment / offer of settlement rule and the frivolous claims and defenses rule.…

“Loser pays” is a popular theme among advocates of “tort reform,” many of whom may not understand what the popular political calls for “loser pays” or “tort reform” really mean in any detail. Perhaps some people who say they are for it do not understand that Georgia already has five “loser pays” rules that have…

We hear talk of another round of “tort reform” legislation including a “loser pays” rule. But some of the folks talking about it may not realize that Georgia already has five different “loser pays” rules. One of the five forms of “loser pays” rules in Georgia is in O.C.G.A. § 9-11-68. Passed as part of…

People who have suffered a serious personal injury, and families that have lost the breadwinner due to wrongful death, may be  tempted to file for protection of a Bankruptcy Court. However, we  warn clients that it is generally a very bad idea. Why is that? Upon filing of a petition for bankruptcy, control of the…

I am happy to congratulate three new members of the Georgia Supreme Court and Court of Appeals, who were recently appointed by Governor Nathan Deal. The promotion of Justice Blackwell to the Supreme Court and the retirement of Judge Charles Mikell created two vacancies on the Court of Appeals, for which Governor Deal made his…

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…

CW Transport, LLC is a four-truck garbage hauling company in metro Atlanta. Though small in size, it is large in vehicle maintenance and unsafe driving violations. That bad record culminated in an incident in which the transmission parts from a CW Transport truck flew off the truck, across the median of I-20 and through the…

ABCO Transportation, Inc., a refrigerated freight haulder based in Dade City, Florida, has had for several years an unsatisfactory record of unsafe driving violations with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. When a trucking company has a record as bad as ABCO, often there are issues of management turning a blind eye to safety, in…

ABCO Transportation, Inc., a refrigerated freight haulder based in Dade City, Florida, has a chronically unsatisfactory record with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration with regard to unsafe driving violations. In my experience as a trucking trial attorney, when a trucking company has a record as bad as ABCO, often there are issues of management…

Truck driver fatigue is one of the most common cause of catastrophic trucking crashes that I see in my law practice. Many times we have combed through the paper logs maintained by truck drivers, sometimes referred to as “comic books,” and meticulously compared them to other records generated in the course of a cross-country trip.…