Mr. Strimban and Mr. Rogers,

Please be careful out there, and if you think about it, put your hands at 9 and 3!

These are only some of the questions that will arise that most people do not know the answer to.  And why would you?  If you are not a lawyer or you have never been seriously hurt in a car wreck, you would have no reason to research this information.  For a quick reference, here are the answers (1) if the person does not have liability insurance, look to see if you or a relative that you live with has Uninsured Motorist coverage.  (2) Unfortunately, medical bills will initially be paid by you.  By that I mean either you pay cash, or you have insurance that pays.  Do not expect the responsible party to pay for medical bills as they arise.  Your personal injury lawyer will fight for you to recover any money you paid for medical bills from the responsible party.  Unfortunately, the money reimbursing medical bills paid comes at the end of the case and not when a person is treating.  (3) You should contact your insurance company whenever you are in a car wreck and you have been hurt.  Often times your car insurance contract will have notice requirements that you must abide by.  (4) Do not speak with the responsible party’s insurance company.  That company’s representative is not out to help you.

Answering questions like these are important and, if handled improperly, could lead to problems on your case.  In addition to answering questions about insurance, a personal injury lawyer will also start building your case.  This includes visiting the wreck scene, obtaining pictures of the vehicles involved, hiring competent experts if an expert is needed and interviewing witnesses.  If this information is not obtained quickly, it is often lost.

Finally, hiring a personal injury lawyer soon is important because it allows you to concentrate on getting healthy.  So many of our clients tell us that their health improves after they hire us because they are now focused only on their physical health, and not legal issues.  Our clients do not need to worry about calling insurance adjusters, or dealing with hospital billing offices.  This work is handled by us.

So to answer the question posed in the title of this blog post, you should call a personal injury lawyer as soon as possible.  If you or a loved one has questions about a personal injury related issue, please contact us for a free consultation.  We are here to help.

Anything that could reduce the healing time for fractures and get people back to normal following an injury is great news.  Hopefully doctors will be using this product on injured people in the near future.

I point out this recent decision to applaud the Supreme Court for disbarring these guilty lawyers, and also to inform people that hiring runners is a practice used only by the worst of the worst.  If you are ever approached by a runner, first of all, please do not sign up with that outfit, and second, report the lawyer and the runner to the Georgia Bar.  These bad apples give honest lawyers a bad name.

If you are in need of a lawyer, please ask a friend, co-worker or family member for a recommendation. Whatever you do, never hire a lawyer that calls you out of the blue.

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The facts of the case are relatively straightforward; the defendant was driving his truck to a job site when he looked down at his cell phone to find a telephone number.  Because he was looking at his cell phone and not the road, he did not see that the traffic in front of him had stopped.  The defendant failed to notice the cars in front of him until it was too late, and he rear ended the car in front of him.

The injured plaintiff sued seeking punitive damages in addition to compensatory damages.  For those of you who read this blog that are not lawyers, punitive damages are pretty rare, and are awarded when there is evidence of intentional conduct or a “conscious indifference to consequences”.  The damages awarded in most personal injury cases are called compensatory damages.  These are damages for lost wages, medical expenses and pain and suffering.

The Court declined to allow punitive damages in the Lindsey case because using a cell phone in Georgia while driving is permissible.  The Court also said that the defendant was not speeding, was not under the influence, nor did the defendant have a history of distraction related accidents showing a pattern dangerous driving.

This case is interesting because it says that cell phone use by itself will not lead to punitive damages.  The Court, however, leaves the door open for punitive damages claims when cell phones are involved and there are other aggravating circumstances.  So for example, if a person is speeding while using a cell phone, this may lead to punitive damages.  Or if a person has caused a wreck before because of cell phone use, then there could be a potential claim for punitive damages.

Bottom line, be careful when you are driving and using a cell phone.  The best policy is to not talk on your cell phone when you are driving.

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After having such a great time in 2010, the Cobb County Trial Lawyers Association, along with help and support from the Georgia Trial Lawyers Association, decided once again to sponsor a booth at Constitution Day on the Marietta Square.  Constitution Day is a day of education and camaraderie centered on the United States Constitution.  Each Amendment is represented by a booth, where volunteers are stationed to teach and engage in healthy dialogue about the importance of our Constitution.  Naturally, our group chose the 7^th Amendment, which is our right to a civil jury trial.

As we began to setup our booth, we were welcomed by absolutely beautiful weather and an amazing scene.  American Flags were gently rustling in the breeze, smells of BBQ wafted through the air and live music played on the Marietta Square stage.  The GTLA booth came together quickly.  We had a huge banner telling everyone who we were, folders containing information about Civil Justice and two inspirational quotes from Thomas Jefferson and John Adams flanking our table.  With our booth looking impressive, we began welcoming guests.

The majority of the people attending Constitution Day are members of the Tea Party, Libertarians or Republicans.  These groups of people saw our booth and often openly wondered why “a group of trial lawyers” would be at an event like this.  We smiled politely and told them in no uncertain terms, that when it came to Civil Justice we had more in common then they thought.  We told the patrons we believed, like them, in personal responsibility, the Constitution and small government.  We explained that a jury is the smallest and most local form of government in our society.  We then said that many politicians who call themselves “conservatives” act like hypocrites when they propose big government ideas like state wide or national “tort reform”.  After spending time explaining our beliefs, we began making friends and convincing people that “tort reform” was simply another way for the insurance industry to erode our 7^th Amendment Right to Trial by Jury.

I believe people walked away from our booth appreciating our passion for the Civil Justice system and with a better understanding of why “tort reform” is contrary to our Constitution.  I hope there is a 3^rd Constitution Day so we can continue this important dialogue.

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Mrs. Boller filed a wrongful death lawsuit claiming there should have been an ambulance and a defibrillator on site, and if there had been, her husband likely would have survived.  The Court of Appeals disagreed with Mrs. Boller and decided the Woodruff Arts Center had no duty to provide emergency medical services to patrons.  The Court of Appeals explained that Georgia has a long standing general rule that “a person us under no duty to rescue another from a situation of peril which the former has not caused.”

What do you think?  Did the Court get this decision right?  Do you think the legislature should enact a law requiring emergency medical services at events like this?

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CHILD’S INTENTIONAL CONDUCT

The Georgia Legislative Code provides, in part: “Every parent or guardian having the custody and control over a minor child or children under the age of 18 shall be liable in an amount not to exceed 10,000.00 plus court costs for the willful or malicious acts of the minor child or children resulting in reasonable medical expenses to another, damage to the property of another, or both reasonable medical expenses and damage to property.”  Therefore, parents have potential liability of up to $10,000 for the willful or malicious acts of their minor child.  The purpose of this statute is to discourage juvenile delinquency.  Examples of behavior which have caused parents to have to pay under this law include driving automobiles recklessly and burglarizing homes.

PARENT GIVING PERMISSION

A parent can be held responsible for the entire amount of the harm done because of the actions of their child if they instruct the child to do something, and it is done negligently.  An example might be where a father tells his young son to repair some steps at their home.  If the child does a bad job, and someone is injured when the steps give way, the parent may be responsible to pay for all of the harm done.  This liability is based on a principal/agent model, where the principal is responsible for the harm done by the agent. Another common example of this type parental liability arises where the head of the household furnishes a child a car to use to carry out a family activity, or family business.  Generally, there is no liability to a car owner when someone else uses the car negligently.  The rule may be otherwise, however, where the owner knows that the person who is lent the car is an irresponsible driver or where the car is provided to a family member to further a family interest.  The so called “family purpose doctrine” requires a close examination of the circumstances surrounding the provision of the car to the family member before it can be decided that the parent is responsible for the injuries that were caused when the child has a wreck.

PARENT SUPPLYING A DANGEROUS INSTRUMENTALITY

If a parent supplies a child with something that is potentially dangerous, and does not properly supervise the child, the parent can be made to pay for the harm done by the child.  This liability is not limited by statute, and, therefore, may require payment for the entire amount of the harm done.  The standard used by Georgia courts to determine parental liability is whether the parent exercised ordinary care when he/she allowed the child to use the “dangerous instrumentality”.  If there is responsible supervision by the parent and little reason to expect harm, the parent will probably not be found responsible for accidental harm that occurs.  A golf club, a gun, a rotary lawn mower and a go-cart are examples the courts have considered to raise a question for a jury to decide on the issue of parental negligence for furnishing a dangerous instrumentality.  Whether a child is old enough and mature enough, and whether there is enough parental supervision in place considering any foreseeable harm are common sense questions.  A parent who uses good judgment in providing a child access to instruments should not suffer liability for accidental harm.

This information is general and a close examination of the particular circumstances is necessary to form a professional judgment about liability.

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1.  Fewer than 2 percent of doctors each year were the subject of a successful claim, in which the insurer had to pay a settlement or court judgment.

2.  About 7.5 percent of doctors have a claim filed against them each year.

3.  1 in 5 malpractice claims against doctors leads to a settlement or other payout.

These numbers hardly point to a “wave” of litigation involving medical malpractice.  Ms. Chandra, in a recent interview concluded: “Trial lawyers say cost is a barrier to bringing a claim to court.  There are very high up-front costs for hiring expert witnesses and preparing a case. Doctors, hospitals and their insurers often have significant money and legal firepower.  Some states also have caps on malpractice awards. So, usually, only very strong cases with high expected payouts are pursued.  Given the expense and other difficulties involved in winning, it’s doubtful most claims are filed on a greedy whim.”

This is even more evidence that shows there is not a “crisis” when it comes to medical malpractice.  Please question any politician that declares the solution to our healthcare system is Tort Reform.  Do not let your right to the courthouse be taken away by the insurance industry.

Please read the the article about this study.  Here is the link to the New England Journal of Medicine article.

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