Atlanta Injury Law Blog

As a trucking safety trial lawyer, I’ve been bemused at the reluctance to fully utilize widely available GPS technology for trucking regulatory enforcement. Under a policy issued in 1997, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration limited the use of technology data and electronically produced records, such as GPS, during reviews and for regulatory enforcement purposes.…

We have lawyers in my firm who regularly handle nursing home malpractice and abuse cases all over Georgia. One of them called my attention to the new government web site that included ratings of nursing homes. The 17 Georgia nursing homes rated “much above average” include:  But out of 358 nursing homes in Georgia, 115 rate…

Sometimes quality control and financial stability go hand in hand. This week I saw two announcements from Cooper Tire. First, they recalled Cooper CS4 Touring (VR tires) size 215/55 R17 produced between September 7 and October 11, 2008.  This is part of a long history.  According to the NHTSA recall campaign these tires may have…

Representing individuals and families in cases of personal injury and wrongful death in Georgia, we deal with complex rules that the legislature tried to make more difficult in tort reform legislation in 2005.  However, in that hastily assembled legislation, the “law of unintended consequences” was at work. When the Georgia legislature passed that omnibus tort reform…

Seldom does my trucking litigation practice as an attorney in Atlanta overlap with my semi-regular reading of Investors Business Daily. However, the issue for Monday, 12/22/08, includes an insightful article by J. Bonasia titled “Trucking Firms Shift Gears.” Some key points: * “A central part of the industry’s cost structure involves a focus on safety,…

As a trucking trial attorney, I see case after case of fatigued truck drivers, either near the end of their legal hours of service, or pushing beyond those hours, causing crashes due to impaired perception, reaction and judgment. For the past several years there has been a battle over extension of legal driving hours from…

The Georgia Fair Business Practices Act was enacted in the 1970’s. In the early nineties I sifted through the original legislative committee files at the archives in researching legislative intent. It is clear that this Georgia law encompasses personal injury and wrongful death claims based upon unfair or deceptive acts or practices in commerce, and…

As a trucking trial lawyer in Georgia, I often encounter defendants seeking to exclude evidence of corporate misconduct by just admitting that that they are responsible for the driver. Rather than letting into evidence the whole story of the corporation’s systemic disregard for safety for years, they try to focus on a couple of second…

According to Ben Evans of Associated Press, President-elect Obama’s appointments have notably excluded Southerners. It’s hard to see where he’s going to fill in that gap.  However, there is speculation that my friend from Atlanta, Teresa Wynn Roseborough, could be the next Solicitor General of the United States, representing the government at the Supreme Court.…

Even I as a trucking accident trial lawyer can’t figure a way to blame this one on the trucking company. According to a report by Kevin Valentine on Wearecentralpa.com, Friday on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, a small airplane rearended a tractor trailer and bounced over the guardrail before coming to rest. Ken Shigley is a trial…