Articles Tagged with Personal Injury

In February of 2006, John Lamb was killed when a bicycle he was riding became entangled with hazardous utility wires which draped across a city sidewalk. Mr. Lamb did not see the wires that were still attached to the utility pole until it was too late. Unfortunately, he was thrown from his bicycle, landed on his head, broke his neck and was killed.

This spring, PEDS, a pedestrian safety advocacy group located in Atlanta, will be conducting the Second Annual John Lamb Hazardous Wire Hunt. Citizens are encouraged to photograph hazardous wires on or near City sidewalks and then send the photographs to PEDS, which in turn will send them to the City of Atlanta and/or to the utility companies implicated by the pictures. Obviously, the purpose of this Wire Hunt not only is to honor the memory of John Lamb, who was killed through the negligence of the City and the utility companies who failed to maintain their wires in a safe condition, but also to prevent future accidents of a similar nature. Once PEDS sends the photos to the City and to the utility companies, it is anticipated that they will clean up their act (so to speak) and hopefully, one day, make the City “wireless.”

Finch McCranie, LLP was honored to have represented the Lamb family in connection with his tragic wrongful death. We are also pleased that PEDS is performing this important community service on behalf of each and every Atlanta citizen who enjoy using sidewalks for safe ingress and egress. The City has a legal duty to maintain its sidewalks safely. Leaving hazardous wires on sidewalks for periods of days, weeks, and sometimes months clearly is not a safe practice. It is our hope that the PEDS Hazardous Wire Hunt in memory of John Lamb will serve its intended purposes and help make this City’s sidewalks safe for pedestrian use. One preventable and unnecessary death is one death too many.

Typically government employees are entitled to qualified immunity for acts committed within their official job functions. Such official job functions are called usually discretionary functions and for any such discretionary acts, they are usually afforded complete immunity. The only way around this immunity from suit is to prove that the government actor acted with actual malice or intended to cause harm and/or were acting outside the scope of their authority. As is true of any other claim involving either sovereign immunity or official immunity/qualified immunity claims against government agencies and/or employees, it is necessary that a claimant, who has been injured through the acts of a government agency or employee, immediately confer with counsel.
As we have blogged on in the last week or so, there are many pre-suit notification requirements and there is quite a bit of analysis that has to be done to determine whether an individual government employee can be held personally liable in their personal capacity and/or whether there is any waiver of sovereign immunity such that claims can be brought against them in their official capacity. Because time is of the essence in these claims, any person that has a potential claim against a government agent or employee, should confer with counsel immediately.

The Georgia injury lawyers at Finch McCranie, LLP have represented individuals in many different types of product liability cases. One type of case we are investigating involves individuals who have suffered bone problems as a side effect of Fosamax (Alendronate Sodium). Studies have shown that the popular osteoporosis drug could increase the risk of the painful and potentially disfiguring jaw injury, known as osteonecrosis of the jaw. Other studies have indicated that the medication could also lead to necrosis of the hip, knee and shoulder and a possible increased risk of femur fractures. Fosamax inhibits bone turn over, which could lead to permanent bone decay. Osteonecrosis of the jaw is a rare, but serious problem which may develop following dental procedures, such as tooth extractions. The gums fail to heal, leading to exposed jaw bone and infection. As a result, it is often necessary for dead or decayed portions of the jaw bone to be surgically removed. Symptoms of jaw Necrosis include: jaw pain, gum infection or swelling, loose teeth or toothaches, and exposed bone inside the mouth. Although Merck was aware of this serious risk, they have failed to adequately warn patients or notify the medical community of these Fosamax bone side effects.
Just this week, ABC News reported on two women who have been taking Fosamax for over 5 years. In both cases, both women sustained fractured femurs, notwithstanding that the femur is one of the strongest bones in the body. In one case, a woman was simply jumping rope with neighborhood children when she felt her thigh bone snap into.
If you or a family member have taken Fosamax over a period of years for osteoporosis and developed problems with the jaw, hip, shoulder, knee, or femur (particularly a fracture of your femur), it may be related to your use of this drug. If you have sustained injury as a result of taking Fosamax call the Georgia injury lawyers at Finch McCranie, LLP.

We have blogged before about pre-suit notification requirements against counties. Simply stated, such a notification must be provided within twelve (12) months of the date of the occurrence or event claimed to have caused personal injury to the claimant. Fortunately, there is a body of law that states that filing a lawsuit within one (1) year of the event will serve to provide Notice to the county. This body of law, however, is entirely different from claims involving State government and also is entirely different from claims against municipalities. Why it is that the difference exists is not completely understood, but the fact remains that if a claimant with a personal injury claim against a county agency or employee files a lawsuit within twelve (12) months of the date of the occurrence or omission involved, they usually will be protected. It is still a good idea, however, to give a written Ante-Litem Notice or pre-suit notification even prior to filing the lawsuit so that no assertion can be made that the county did not receive notice of the potential claim for injuries. Once again, we urge anyone with a possibility of a claim to assert it just as soon as possible and to confer with counsel as soon as possible so as to protect their rights under the law.

Under Georgia law, a person injured by the act or omission of a state, local or county government agency must file a written pre-suit notification of intent to file a claim before a lawsuit can subsequently be filed. These are known as “Ante-Litem” provisions. Under the State Tort Claims Act, for example, an Ante-Litem Notice must be filed within twelve (12) months from the date the loss was discovered or should have been discovered. Any person with a claim against the county must present that claim within twelve (12) months of the occurrence, however, claims against municipalities must be presented within six (6) months of the happening of the incident upon which the claim is based. Whether the claim is brought under the State Tort Claims Act ,against a county or a municipality, there are also provisions under the law which specify who must be served with the notice and what information must be contained within the Notice. Many cases have been dismissed for failure to file these notices in a timely manner and/or failing to provide the government agency with sufficient information to review the claim on an administrative basis.
Any individual who claims to have been injured by the acts of a government agency should confer with counsel immediately before their claims are time barred for failure to file the required pre-suit notification, the Ante-Litem Notice. If an injured individual does not timely file an Ante-Litem Notice, their claim may be barred by the statute of limitations. Accordingly, anyone with a potential claim should confer with counsel immediately.

Our Atlanta medical malpractice lawyers have written in the past about the unfairness of damage caps in medical malpractice cases and how they penalize the most severly injured innocent victims of medical malpractice.

Currently before the Georgia Supreme Court is the issue of the constitutionality of the $350,000.00 cap on non-economic damages enacted by the legislature in 2005. A decision is expected any day.

The attorneys who prosecuted that case have prepared a video which explains and details the terrible injuries suffered by their client. While the content is extremely disturbing and may upset some, we recommend that all citizens of this state view the video, so that they may be truthfully educated about the horrors of medical malpractice and the unfairness of caps on damages.

Oftentimes we are asked by clients who have claims against government entities and/or employees to represent their interests in personal injury cases. Regrettably, due to the antiquated and harsh doctrine of sovereign immunity (for legal claims), this many times proves to be a difficult undertaking. Simply stated, sovereign immunity protects many government agencies and employees from lawsuits involving personal injuries. Thankfully, there are some exceptions to the rule, most notably when there is another statute that waives the immunity from suit.
With respect to county immunity, the Georgia Code states that county governments are entitled to sovereign immunity unless liability is imposed upon them by law. See O.C.G.A. § 36-1-4. The only statute that imposes liability upon counties by operation of law is O.C.G.A. § 33-24-51, which allows a waiver of sovereign immunity when a county purchases liability insurance for the negligent use or operation of a government owned motor vehicle. The law used to be that if a government employee ran over someone or ran a stop sign and caused serious personal injuries nothing could be done because of the doctrine of sovereign immunity. As stated, there is now a statute that waives county government immunity in situations involving vehicles. However, if a county employee or agent hurts another person due to a difficult type of negligent act and there is no waiver of sovereign immunity, then there may not be any means of recovery for the innocent victim of the governmental negligence.
Because cases involving sovereign immunity are always factually unique, they require unique legal analysis as well. An ante-litem notice is required for virtually all claims against governmental agencies so anyone with a claim against a county, municipality or state government agency or employee should confer with counsel immediately to preserve their rights. Whether the doctrine of sovereign immunity can be overcome again will be a question of both facts and law, but the sooner the analysis begins, the better, because otherwise claims can be barred altogether for failure to file timely pre-suit notifications with the government agency involved.

General Motors Co. Is recalling 1.3 million Chevrolet and Pontiac compacts cars to repair or replace steering motors which can fail causing the vehicle to be difficult to steer at lower speeds. While this may not be an insurmountable problem for some drivers, the Georgia injury lawyers recognize that it may be a serious problem for older or elderly drivers who may surprised by the loss of the power steering and be physically unable to steer the vehicle. Under those circumstances a power steering failure could cause an automobile accident with devastating consequences.
According to an article published by the Associated Press today, General Motors told the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration about the recall on Monday. NHTSA began an investigation into 905,000 of the models on January 27th after getting 1,100 complaints that the cars lost their power steering. The complaints included 14 crashes and one injury.
If you or a loved one have been injured in an automobile accident involving a recalled vehicle, contact the Georgia injury lawyers at Finch McCranie, LLP .Our firm has been representing injured victims in products liability claims for over 45 years.

Bus accidents on Georgia roads and highways many times result in serious injury and sometimes death for passengers. Many people do not realize that under Georgia law, common carriers such as bus companies and airlines owe their passengers the duty to exercise extraordinary care in the operation of the bus or airplane which is a higher legal duty than is normally owed. Specifically, the Official Code of Georgia Annotated §46-9-1 provides as follows:
“Carriers as such are bound to exercise ordinary diligence. Common carriers as such are bound to use extraordinary diligence, and in cases of loss the presumption of law is against them, and no excuse avails them unless the loss was occasioned by the act of God or the public enemies of the state.”
If you or a loved one have been seriously injured in a bus accident, as a passenger on a bus or any other common carrier, call the Georgia injury lawyers at Finch McCranie, LLP to discuss your rights. We have been representing clients in personal injury and wrongful death cases for over 45 years.

As a Georgia injury lawyer, I am always amazed at the number of deck collapse cases I read and hear about. Many of these decks are built high off the ground and do not meet any acceptable or recognized building code. Unfortunately the deficiencies of the construction do not become apparent until the decks are loaded up with people and the deck pulls away from the house and falls. In recent years there have been a number of death cases related to deck collapses.

Some of the deck collapses simply result from the deck material rotting over time. This should be readily apparent to anyone doing a reasonable inspection. A failure to inspect is negligence. It has also been my experience that many deck collapses result from the ledger board not being secured to the home properly. In some cases the ledger board is secured to the side of the house using nails. This is always insufficient to secure the deck to the house and should never be done. Instead, the ledger board should be securely attached with lag screws or if possible, lag bolts.

Just this week, a Roswell, Georgia woman was injured when the deck on her townhome collapsed and fell. As a result she sustained a broken leg.