Georgia Injury Lawyers Blog

The U.S. Supreme Court held yesterday that a car company can be responsible for a dangerous design even if federal regulations permit the unsafe practice. Williamson v. Mazda Motor of America, Inc. involves a woman who died from a jackknife injury caused by a lap belt in the middle rear seat of a minivan during a collision. Lap belts have been known to cause death and serious spinal injuries while three point belts protect rear seat passengers. Sadly, the rear seat passengers are often children.

Our Atlanta Georgia law firm has successfully handled these auto defect cases involving the use of lap belts against Toyota, General Motors, Chrysler and other auto manufacturers. Hiding behind the federal regulations is now a thing of the past. It is a simple thing to put three point belts across the rear seats. There has never been an excuse for the dead and injured and the Supreme Court made the right ruling.

The U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled that families cannot sue vaccine manufacturers over injuries caused by what they claim are defective and dangerous childhood vaccines. This ruling conflicts with a 2008 decision by the Georgia Supreme Court on this issue..
This decision is a setback to parents who have claimed that their children have suffered injuries such as autism due to these vaccines. The recent ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court relegates at least a design-defect type of claim to the federal vaccine court, a special compensation system set up by a 1986 federal statute that is supposed to be a no-fault system,but in reality caps recovery amounts. This in our view is extremely unfair to plaintiffs.
The federal vaccine statute provides that vaccine manufacturers cannot be liable for injury or death caused by vaccines in many types of civil lawsuits, "if the injury or death resulted from side effects that were unavoidable even though the vaccine was properly prepared and was accompanied by proper directions and warnings." In a ruling in a case in which Atlanta parents claimed their son suffered neurological injuries as a result of the preservative, thimerosal in his immunizations, our Georgia Supreme Court held that design-defect claims over vaccine injuries were not precluded by Federal law. . Now, however, this United States Supreme Court decision raises serious roadblocks for parents in Georgia & throughout the country.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that all routine vaccines that are recommended for children under the age of six, other than some flu vaccines, no longer contain any more than trace amounts of the preservative thimerosal. The CDC maintains that the evidence does not show a causal relationship between vaccines containing this preservative and autism.Other scientific studies do not agree with this conclusion.
Our lawfirm, pursuing defective product claims (also called product liability cases) is constantly monitoring developments in the law wherever it may effect Georgia citizens.

A worker in a manufacturing plant has been operating a machine for 10 years. He's never had a problem, never been hurt. On this day a delivery driver comes into the plant and doesn't follow his company procedures. The result - The machine operator loses an arm.
When our Atlanta Georgia Personal Injury law firm investigates the case against the delivery driver and his employer an important area we focus on is the safety procedures which are part of the driver's responsibilities. Examples: Is he allowed in the plant? Are there areas that are off limits to him? Must he not interfere with unloading when he makes deliveries?
The safety procedures are almost always set out in booklets, brochures, on the company website, etc. This can lead to critical evidence to establish negligence that makes out the case and results in a successful outcome.

When someone is injured or killed in an auto or truck collision, the investigating police officer charges the driver which the officer believes is at fault - the driver receives a "ticket". The traffic case is then assigned to a traffic court in the Georgia jurisdiction where the accident happened. Once the case goes to traffic court, the driver charged can plead guilty and pay a fine (or receive additional punishment), plead no lo contendre, or plead not guilty.
Of these 3 plea options, a guilty plea is the only plea that is admissable in evidence in a civil case for damages. Personal injury and wrongful death cases are brought in Superior or State Court, or in Federal District Court. Traffic Court is not where the injury or death case is heard.
A traffic court guilty plea IS admissable in evidence in the personal injury case - as an admission of negligence. It can be used to refute any argument by the defendant driver that he was not at fault. A certified copy of the traffic court guilty plea is introduced into evidence to accomplish this.
If the ticketed driver pleads not guilty but is found guilty by the traffic court judge, this finding of guilt is not admissable in the personal injury case.
The outcome in traffic court is always important for our Atlanta, Georgia personal injury law firm to determine.

Ted Poe of Texas and Phil Gingrey of Georgia certainly aren't on the same page, The Hill reports.

Rep. Ted Poe of Texas blasted a malpractice proposal to set a $250,000 ceiling on non-economic medical malpractice damages. Our Atlanta Injury Firm applauds the position.

Poe, a member of the House Tea Party Caucus and a former judge, says the bill infringes on states' rights. He says he'll vote against the bill if it requires caps for states that don't want them. Poe says. "I think it's a violation of the Tenth Amendment." The New York Times reported that bill sponsor and obstetrician Phil Gingrey of Georgia paid $500,000 to settle a negligence claim and has three other claims on his record. Sounds like a case of personal payback.

Tea Party members are learning that states rights means the federal government should stay out of state injury law. How about a review of ERISA reimbursement claims and federal preemption next ?

We often have people say to us when Atlanta has a snow storm - "boy, I bet that's great for your business!" The truth is every vehicle collision, whether a car, truck, tractor trailer....etc, must be evaluated on its own set of facts.
If a driver causes injuries or even death by NEGLIGENT driving,whether in the snow or on a dry roadway there is a case. The negligence could be driving too fast for the icy conditions or making some other error. However, sometimes an accident in snow or ice is considered by Georgia law to be "an act of God". This means the accident occurred due to the dangerous driving conditions, even though the drivers were not negligent. In such circumstances, no claim exists. In other words, the cause of the accident was the ice or snow, and not the negligence of a driver.
To sum things up, if you have been injured during this difficult winter and you believe it was another driver's fault, contact our Georgia Auto and Truck Accident law firm to get a complete evaluation of the accident and to learn what your rights are.

Our Atlanta Georgia law firm has long argued that insurance costs depend more on insurance company premium investment returns rather than claims by injured people. Now there is more information that lawsuit inflation is a myth.
Insurance Information Institute

Tort inflation is a constant threat to the health of the insurance industry and the U.S. economy. Large increases in tort costs lead to higher insurance costs and can harm businesses trying to grow. In this report, the Insurance Information Institute examines the state of tort inflation in the United States. As with last year's report, the current environment in some ways seems calm: the average jury award has peaked at just over $1 million; tort costs rose modestly to $838 per person in 2008, though costs are projected to increase in subsequent years; and settlements in securities class actions rose to $3.8 billion in 2009 but remain far below the peak years of 2005-2006. However, there are signs that tort inflation may be returning: businesses in the U.S. and U.K. anticipate more legal disputes--40 percent of companies anticipate facing more legal disputes in the coming year; the largest jury verdicts are getting bigger.

The 10 largest jury verdicts in 2009 totaled $1.5 billion, an increase of 12 percent from 2008; trends in presidential appointments and policy directives could give the appearance of a shift away from principles that rein in tort inflation the overall number of actions filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission dipped slightly in 2009, but remains substantially above the levels of 2007 and prior; terrorism remains a liability threat and current proposals could weaken the ability of insurers to offer coverage; and tort costs associated with medical malpractice have fallen four years in a row, an apparent example of the effectiveness of malpractice caps. However, court decisions

In these difficult economic times, many people are struggling to make ends meat. Jobs have been lost, benefits cut, houses have gone into foreclosure or sold in a "short sale".
But what about my legal rights if I have been hurt in a automobile or truck collision, or suffered due to medical malpractice, been injured in a slip and fall or because a defective product malfunctioned? What if an insurance company has wronfully denied me compensation or coverage which I am entitled to receive?
The answer is that your legal rights in these circumstances are not effected by a bad economy. Where a legitimate personal injury or wrongful death claim exists under Georgia law, our Atlanta, Georgia personal injury law firm can pursue your case successfully. A poor economy will not hurt your case whatsoever.

Our Atlanta Accident and Trial Law Firm is directly next to Dunwoody traffic court and a short drive from the Sandy Springs court. DUI is not the only serious matter handled in these courts. Traffic court can be important if an injury and crash are involved. It may be the first and best chance to decide fault.

We can help if you go to traffic court. A free call to talk to a partner can tell you if you need a lawyer or can safely go to court by yourself. Gary Hill or Bob Bleiberg can be there in minutes. Collisions, serious injuries and DUI cases are too important to leave to chance.