$22 Million Medical Malpractice
$10.2 Million Car Accident
$10 Million Truck Accident
$9.6 Million Insurance Dispute
$7.6 Million Bicycle Accident
$6 Million Premises Liability
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IciclesWhile Georgia may not see much snow, we do get plenty of ice. We tend to worry primarily about ice when behind the wheel of our car, but it’s important to remember that ice can lead to falls and very serious injuries. Cuts, scrapes, and bruises may not require much treatment, but some falls result in broken bones, concussions, and other injuries that can require surgery and time off of work. In those cases, you may be entitled to compensation from the property owner for negligence, but it’s important to understand how to make your claim.  


Principles of Premises Liability

Whether or not a property owner should be held liable for someone else’s injury is typically determined by a negligence standard. Most people understand negligence to mean careless or reckless behavior. In the context of premises liability, a property owner is negligent when he or she fails to maintain the property according to a standard of ordinary prudence under the circumstances. For example, a property owner could be held liable if someone fell on a staircase that was the main entry to the building and in obvious need of repair. So, the questions that typically need to be answered in this scenario are as follows:

An empty operating roomFollowing an eight-year review of medical death data, Johns Hopkins Medicine released a report in 2016 that there are an estimated 250,000 deaths per year in the United States due to medical error. According to the Johns Hopkins study, this would make medical errors the third highest cause of death in the country. One of the concerns noted in the study was that the CDC does not adequately classify deaths due to medical error, and so it’s difficult to identify exactly how many of these deaths occur each year. It’s even more difficult to calculate how many deaths are attributable to specific kinds of medical errors.   

It has been estimated that thousands of people die each year due to surgical errors, making it one of the most common types of medical malpractice claims. If you’re suffering following complications from surgery, this post will review some of the common issues that we’ve seen in handling surgical error cases.  

Common Surgical Errors

A brown dog baring its teeth.We’ve written before about dog bite cases, but a couple of recent cases in Georgia make the topic worth revisiting.  

Eight-Year-Old Girl Attacked in Miamisburg

In July, an eight-year-old girl was hospitalized for her injuries after being attacked by a pit bull. The 911 caller reported to the dispatcher that she was “covered in blood.” The girl experienced a full recovery, but it was a harrowing experience. The owners of the pitbull surrendered the dog to animal control authorities, otherwise it would have been deemed a “dangerous dog.”  The dog was later euthanized.

The aftermath of a 3-car accidentCar accidents can be traumatic events that result in very serious injuries such as broken bones, organ damage, whiplash, and brain injuries. Unfortunately, many people tend to overlook the psychological trauma, which can be every bit as serious as a physical injury and often harder to treat.  

If you’ve been injured in a car accident, you may already be experiencing some of the issues we’ll discuss below. However, it’s important to keep in mind the psychological effects of a car accident may not be immediately obvious. In any event, don’t ignore the symptoms – talk to your doctor, seek counseling, or confide in a loved one. And keep in mind that you may be entitled to compensation for damage to your mental health, just like you may be entitled to compensation for your physical injuries.  

Depression

Gavel, law book, and paper with the text "personal injury"Maybe you’ve been in an accident and you’re hurting. It’s a difficult and harried time – doctor’s appointments, physical therapy, you’re missing work, and the bills are piling up. Unfortunately, many people struggle through instead of getting the help they need. A personal injury attorney can help you through this process and give you peace of mind so that you can focus on your recovery and your future. In this post, we’re going to discuss exactly how a lawyer can help you move forward.   

Claim Evaluation

The first thing a personal injury attorney can do is help you evaluate your claim. In some cases, it’s clear that your injury is the result of someone else’s negligence, but it can be difficult to sort out in most cases, especially when you’re in pain. In fact, many people don’t realize that they they should pursue a claim until it’s too late.  An experienced personal injury attorney can clarify the factors that caused your accident and determine whether or not someone else’s carelessness was the cause. From there, your lawyer can then determine the likelihood of success if you decide to pursue the at-fault party.

A woman receiving a massageGiven the rising cost of healthcare and insurance, it’s perhaps not surprising that more and more people are turning to alternative medicine for minor and even major illnesses. However, there are serious consequences to consider, and juries are starting to hold practitioners liable for the aftermath. In a case reported by the Los Angeles Times earlier this month, an alternative medicine practitioner by the name of Robert Young was held liable for advising a cancer patient to forgo traditional medical care. The plaintiff in the case was awarded $105 million, more than double what she was seeking. The woman now has stage 4 cancer, and doctors have estimated that she has only three or four years left to live.  

Negligence and Fraud

In her lawsuit, the plaintiff argued that Mr. Young’s practice was negligent and fraudulent. The jury obviously agreed after hearing a considerable amount of evidence, spending only three hours in deliberation. The plaintiff’s attorney hopes that the “cure-all cancer industry” will take notice, and stop taking advantage of desperate people overwhelmed with a life-threatening illness.  

A trampolineWhen you think back to being a kid, some of your fondest memories may involve the thrill of exploration and discovery – riding your bike around the neighborhood, playing in the woods, enjoying your new-found freedom. When you think back to those experiences, you remember what it was like and how ordinary places held a certain mysterious attraction. Unfortunately, those places are often unsafe for children, with many hidden dangers that can result in serious injury or even death.   

Accidents happen, but property owners have a special duty towards making their property safe for children. If your child has been injured on someone else’s property, this post explains why you may have a claim.  

What Is an Attractive Nuisance?

office-1516329_1920-300x199We recently wrote about why people should call a lawyer when they’ve been injured in an accident. If you’re hesitant about picking up the phone (or sending that email), keep in mind that most personal injury attorneys offer a free initial consultation. As a result, it won’t cost you anything other than time to speak with an attorney about your claim.  

Coming to the consultation prepared serves a tremendous benefit to both sides, and helps the case move forward quickly and efficiently should you decide to pursue the claim.  

Bring Your Documents

A snowy street with cars parked on either side.Georgians may not see a lot of snow, but that doesn’t mean that we don’t have to deal with hazardous winter driving conditions. If you get in a car accident this winter, many people will tell you that it was “just an accident,” suggesting that no one is at fault. This isn’t always the case, and if you’ve been injured, an experienced personal injury attorney can assess whether the other driver is at fault and help you get you the compensation you may be entitled to.  

In this post, we’re going to cover some common winter driving hazards and how driver error may establish fault in the event of an accident.  

Snow Storms

A judge's gavelIf you get injured in an accident, there are multiple issues to consider. First, you need to figure out who is at fault.  Then you need to determine how much compensation you are entitled to receive. Finally, you need to navigate the process for actually getting your claim paid. In most accident cases, someone’s insurance company pays the claim – the at-fault person doesn’t often pay for your injuries out of his or her pocket.  

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the claims process can get pretty complicated once insurance companies get involved. Even if liability or the value of your claim is not in dispute, the insurance company may delay or even refuse to pay the claim. This can create tremendous hardship for the victim. You should be focused on putting your life back together rather than worrying about whether you can pay your bills.  

Bad Faith Defined

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