Trial Attorney Blog

Many Georgia parents, and thousands of parents across the country who have children suffering from autism, received bad legal news today. They had claimed that childhood vaccines had caused their children to develop autism.

In a long awaited decision, a special court rejected their claims and ruled that they are not entitled to federal compensation. The decision in three test cases is a severe blow to a national movement that has argued that childhood vaccines have been responsible for the surge in autism diagnoses in the United States in recent decades.

The majority of the scientific community, backed by federal health agencies, has argued there is no link between vaccines and autism. They also argue that deterring parents from vaccinating their children places children at risk for a host of serious childhood diseases.

On the way to work today I saw an automobile accident that had just occurred. A lady had been rear-ended by an automobile on the interstate highway. The cars were very badly damaged and it was clear that one of the drivers was injured. The ambulances had not yet arrived.

As I drove by the accident scene, I thought to myself, “I wonder how this unfortunate lady will find a competent Georgia automobile accident attorney to represent her interests effectively, competently, honestly, ethically and professionally?” Like any other choice a consumer must make involving an important personal matter, consumers must beware of who they hire to represent their interests in these cases. Not all lawyers are created equally nor do they have the same professional abilities. While there are many that advertise their services to the pubic, the public should investigate the background of any attorney to make sure that they are the proper attorney to handle their case.

Lawyers are no different from doctors. While there are many surgeons out there, not all surgeons are equally adept at certain surgical procedures. Some have a better reputation than others, some have greater experience than others, some have a better educational pedigree and background which qualify them for more sophisticated forms of surgery. In a automobile accident case where the person is not seriously injured, the differences in skill and competency may not matter. However, in a case involving serious injuries, lost wages and the possibility of a permanent disability, the greater the skill level of the attorney, the more likely it is that the client will receive competent representation.

We heard a radio piece on National Public Radio the week before last about the rise in uninsured motorists nationwide. It is now estimated that as many as 16% of the motoring public are driving without insurance. In today’s tough economic times, people are failing to pay not only their house bills, which has lead to the mortgage crisis, but also their car insurance bills. This means that many motorists are endangering the lives of their fellow motorists as they drive. Obviously, they are hoping that they will not be involved in an accident. If they are, it is not the driver who causes the accident which is at risk, it is the innocent victim of their reckless conduct.
The only way to protect one’s self against a uninsured motorist is to purchase uninsured/underinsured motorist insurance coverage. While all drivers are required by law to maintain liability insurance coverage to protect the rights of other motorists, 16% of our fellow drivers, apparently, are not fulfilling this duty. Many others purchase the absolute minimum limits required by law – typically $25,000.00 which provides no meaningful protection for serious injuries. Therefore, we are all 16% at risk when we get behind the wheel of being involved in an accident where the driver causing the accident does not have insurance. For those who can afford it and whose budget will allow it, it is therefore increasingly important that uninsured motorist protection be purchased. Without such coverage, if someone is involved in a terrible collision involving serious injuries or even death, there will be no recovery in all likelihood because anyone who is driving without insurance will not have personal assets sufficient to satisfy a judgment in any event

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Our Atlanta lawyers interview potential clients on a daily basis concerning their injuries and hospitalizations. Many times, potential clients, even those who have been hospitalized for long periods, cannot tell us the name or names of the doctors who treated them in the hospital. Now, a recent survey has shown that this is a common occurrence. According to the survey, hospital patients are rarely able to identify their doctors by name or to describe their roles in the patients’ care.

Researchers at the University of Chicago interviewed 2,807 adults admitted to the school’s hospital over a 15-month period. The patients were asked about the roles of the various physicians attending to them and to name the doctors on those teams. The medical teams consisted of three to four people.

Amazingly, 75 % of the patients surveyed were unable to name a single doctor who participated in their care. Of the 25 % who offered a name, only 40 % were correct. The patients who claimed to understand the roles of their doctors were more likely to correctly identify at least one of their doctors.

Our personal injury and wrongful death attorneys in Atlanta, Georgia support MADD’s Campaign to Eliminate Drunk Driving. If you have not done so, please go to Parade magazine’s website at www.parade.com/drunkdriving, and vote “YES” in the poll asking this question: “Should ignition interlocks be mandatory for drunk drivers nationwide?”
MADD’s National President Laura Dean-Mooney has asked that this message (below) be passed along, so we are using our blog to publicize it. Please pass this message along to your friends and family, to help eliminate drunk driving!
Hello! I hope you are having a wonderful Super Bowl weekend. I don’t usually write to you on the weekends, but there is an extraordinary opportunity today and tomorrow to help advance the Campaign to Eliminate Drunk Driving quickly and easily, so I wanted to let good friends like you know.
The Parade Magazine that comes out Sunday, February 1st, includes a short piece on the effectiveness of interlocks. The Parade article highlights the huge reductions in repeat offenses that interlocks can achieve by making it so that drunk drivers can’t drive drunk. The article is up at www.parade.com/drunkdriving and it’s a quick read.
The exciting part is that there is a poll next to the article asking whether these interlocks should be required for all drunk drivers nationwide. We are working to get just such a bill in every state this year and having your voice in this poll would help us convince legislators that interlocks aren’t just the right thing to do, but that they are also the right thing to do politically.
Please take a moment today or tomorrow to go to www.parade.com/drunkdriving and make your voice heard; please help let the politicians know that you want to eliminate drunk driving as soon as possible.
Thank you for your strong support. We couldn’t do what we do without you.
Happy Super Bowl weekend,
Laura Dean-Mooney
MADD National President
PS. Would you please also ask your friends and family to vote? Thanks!

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Every spring and summer as swimming pools open for the season, we read about tragic drownings, often involving children. Statistics show that drowning and near drowning are a leading cause of death and brain injury. Many of these unfortunate incidents could be prevented if swimming pools had proper anti-drowning drain covers and suction cutoff devices installed. These covers and suction cutoff devices are designed to prevent children from being caught in the swimming pool drain as a result of strong suction. Under the new federal regulation, which went into effect last year, public swimming pools and hot tubs are required to install special devices that will prevent drain suction from trapping children under water. These new rules apply to pools and spas used by the public, including municipal pools and those at hotels, private clubs, apartment buildings and community centers. The new law does not require retro-fitting of private home pools.
As with any case, it is always important to throughly investigate the facts of a tragedy in a timely manner so as to preserve evidence. The law firm of Finch McCranie, LLP has represented the families of victims of serious injury and wrongful death accidents for over 40 years.

Since our Atlanta, Georgia personal injury lawyers represent the most seriously injured survivor of the Bluffton University bus accident in March 2007, we have written previously why it is an outrage that seat belts are not required on buses in the United States.
Many of the serious injuries and deaths in the Bluffton rollover crash occurred because the bus had no seat belts–and thus passengers were ejected onto the roadway.
Tonight we were saddened to learn that this preventable tragedy has been repeated–once again. A bus travelling near Hoover Dam in Arizona rolled over, passengers apparently ejected onto the roadway, and seven passengers died.
News reports indicate that the bus was heading north on Highway 93 (a four-lane highway), veered right, and then overcorrected. The bus then apparently crossed the median and rolled over at least once.
The victims were Chinese citizens who had traveled from San Francisco to Las Vegas. When the crash occurred, they were returning from a trip to the Grand Canyon.
It is a “no brainer” that seat belts save lives. Most Americans are amazed that buses and motorcoaches are not required to have seat belts for passengers to use. When a bus wrecks, passengers can often be thrown around inside the bus and even ejected, and death or serious personal injury is a near certainty.
We hope the new administration in Washington puts a stop to this recurring tragedy by mandating that buses have seat belts. Ohterwise, the senseless deaths and horrific injuries will continue.

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In addition to representing victims of trucking accidents and automobile accidents, Finch McCranie, LLP also represents victims of nursing home abuse and nursing home neglect. including patients who have sustained decubitus ulcers (bed sores), falls and brutality in nursing homes.

In one case we handled, our client who suffered from Alzheimers Disease was actually struck in the face by one of the caseworkers. When struck the client fell, breaking her hip. She underwent surgery to repair the hip; however, the trauma of the surgery led to her death. Our investigation revealed the “qualified” care giver on the Alzheimers ward, had actually been a kitchen worker just months before she assaulted our elderly client.

While it is important for families to always visit a nursing home before their loved one is admitted and to continue to monitor care once an admissions takes place, some further information can now be obtained from a new system that rates nursing home care across the country. A five-star rating system has been established by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. This federal agency oversees the quality of care in the nation’s nursing homes. You can access the nursing home ratings by clicking here.

The lawyers at Finch McCranie, LLP have seen many different types of injuries result from being in various nursing homes. Some injuries are the result of being assaulted by nursing home staff or other patients and others are the result of nursing home neglect. Recently the family of a man who died four years ago at a Georgia nursing home was awarded $1.25 million after the jury found that the nursing home’s neglect was responsible for his wrongful death. Tucker Nursing Center allegedly provided inadequate care to the man when he was admitted in 2002. Nine months later, he had to be hospitalized for a bed sore that infected his left buttock to the bone, according to his attorney, and ultimately put him in a death spiral. He died in June of 2004.
Elderly people are entitled to basic safety, respect and dignity. If you are someone you love is a victim of elder abuse or nursing home abuse, you have the right to hold the abuser responsible in Court. Finch McCranie, LLP has represented injured Georgians in nursing home law suits and other personal injury suits for over 40 years. For a free consultation, call our Atlanta Office today at 1-800-228-9159.

The personal injury law firm of Finch McCranie, LLP has been representing victims of truck accidents and automobile accidents for over 40 years. We do not advertise on television and have no intention of doing so. Unseemly television advertising has damaged the public image of the law profession. One Georgia senator is trying to do something about it; however, in its present form, it is not likely to pass.

Senator Seth Harp, a practicing Georgia attorney, has introduced a bill in Georgia Senate that proposes to regulate television advertising by attorneys. The Bill, known as Senate Bill 41, or SB41, proposes a new Georgia Statute, OCGA § 15-19-55.1.

The new statute would regulate legal television advertising in Georgia by requiring that the real attorney(s), not actors, appear in the advertisements, require the television advertisement state the city in which the attorney practices in bold type, require television attorneys to “personally consult,” with their clients, require the television attorneys to actually sign the pleadings, and allow a client to declare a settlement void if certain new television advertisement certifications are not signed by both the television attorney and client at the time of settlement. There are other additional provisions.