Atlanta Injury Lawyers Blog

As we have been discussing, as an experienced Georgia personal injury lawyer, I have represented many clients who have suffered serious injuries in automobile accidents. While every case is different and no two clients are alike, I am writing a series of blog posts which address frequently asked questions. Knowing the answers to these common car accident questions will allow those injured in Georgia car accidents to be better informed about the litigation process.

Who pays for my medical bills?

The negligent driver is responsible for paying your medical bills. However, the negligent driver (or, in most cases, their insurance company) will not pay for medical bills until the whole case is settled for a lump sum amount. Therefore, your medical bills must be addressed prior to settlement. Some possible ways to manage your medical bills until your case settles are: (1) If you have health insurance, submit the bills to your health insurance company; (2) submit the bills to your automobile insurance company to be paid under the med pay portion of your automobile insurance policy; (3) ask the hospitals and doctors who have treated you for your automobile accident related injuries to delay collection efforts until your case resolves, at which time the outstanding medical bills can be properly addressed; (4) seek a Letter of Protection from your attorney to the medical care provider stating that the doctors' bills will be "protected" in any settlement. This allows the doctor to continue providing the care and treatment you need, while not having to worry about getting paid; and (5) in rare cases, an injured person can receive money from case funding companies.

Continue reading " Georgia Car Accident Forum (Continued) " »

As we discussed last month, as an experienced Georgia injury lawyer, I have represented many clients who have suffered serious injuries in car accidents. While every case is different and no two clients are alike, I am writing a series of blog posts to address frequently asked questions. Knowing the answers to these common automobile accident questions will allow those injured in Georgia car accidents to be better informed about the litigation process.

How much is my Georgia car accident case worth?

Many auto accidents in Georgia result in serious injuries such as a broken arm or leg, lost teeth, loss of limbs, severe burns and scarring, herniation of disc in your neck and back and cognitive problems such as loss of memory caused by brain injuries. Unfortunately, we cannot give you back your health, but what the law seeks to do, in simple legal terms, is to "make you whole." Since we can't give you back the health you lost, your case is valued by money, i.e,. what amount of money should a jury give you to put you in the same position you were in before the wreck.

While insurance companies (and many new lawyers) value cases based on a multiplier of the injured plaintiff's medical bills (that is to say, they value your case based on the amount of your medical bills times a multiplier, usually 2 to 3 times the total of the bills. For instance, if you have $50,000 in medical bills, they value your case at $100,000 to $150,000). This is a crude method which, at times, is woefully inadequate to fully compensate someone who is seriously injured in a car wreck.

Under Georgia law, you are entitled to (1) special damages, (2) general damages and (3) in rare cases punitive damages. Special damages are those damages that an injured plaintiff suffers which are capable being proven to an exact amount. Common examples of special damages that are recoverable in Georgia include but are not limited to: medical bills, prescription costs, and lost wages. In other words, these are damages that you don't need a jury to place a value on. They are what they are, and the bills and receipts prove them.

General damages comprise the largest amount of damages in most cases. General damages compensate the injured plaintiff for pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, permanent physical injury or impairment. Think about the following scenario and ask yourself what the special damages are worth: A 20 year-old star college baseball player for Georgia Tech is rear-ended while he is stopped in traffic at the Georgia 400 tollbooth. In the wreck, he smashes his head against the steering wheel. Due to the wreck and the resulting blow to his head, he loses an eye at the scene. Since there was so little the doctors could do, his medical bills are only $15,000. His major league baseball career is over before it starts. What is the proper amount of special damages in this case?

The final element of damages allowable in Georgia are punitive damages. Punitive damages are rarely awarded because the legal standard is harder to satisfy in order for them to be warranted. In an auto wreck case, one can recover punitive damages if it can be shown that the defendant driver committed more than negligence and acted with malice or a conscious indifference to the welfare of others.

All of these damages should be considered when valuing a case.

Continue reading " Georgia Car Accident Forum--Continued " »

After a year-long study, the National Transportation Safety Board last year found that the faulty and confusing signs which caused the deadly bus crash at I-75 at Northside Drive in Atlanta have been replaced by the State of Georgia. As one safety expert put it, the former confusing road signs were "potentially a killer."

In addition to replacing the signs, the State of Georgia settled with the victims and their families for a total of $3 million, which is the maximum exposure for a single accident that the State of Georgia has in these situations. In the deadly crash, the driver of a charter bus carrying a college baseball team mistook the exit sign for the I-75 throughway and exited the highway ramp at highway speed. Not realizing that the bus was now on the exit ramp, the bus driver continued through the exit ramp, rammed a concrete wall, jumped the bridge and landed back onto I-75. The crash caused 5 deaths and numerous other severe injuries.

Continue reading " Confusing Georgia Signs on I-75 Replaced " »

The more things change, the more they stay the same. Today's news talks about how misaligned storm grates on Atlanta streets are causing a safety hazard for Atlanta bicyclists. While this has been reported on this site before, the news is that it is not getting any better.

The problem is that the City of Atlanta is not installing the storm grates properly. When properly installed, the slots of the grates should run perpendicular to traffic and when the City of Atlanta installs them parallel to traffic, a safety hazard occurs. In legal terms, this type of hazard is known as a nuisance and once the City of Atlanta is aware of the hazard, or should have been aware, it is liable for all damages that the nuisance causes.

What is particularly troubling about these hazards is that the danger posed is potentially deadly. When a bicyclist rides over the storm grate (and the slots are running parallel to traffic), the bicycle wheels get stuck in the grates and this causes the bicyclist to lose control, often falling head-first onto the pavement or into oncoming vehicles.

It truly puzzles me as to why the City of Atlanta allows these nuisances to exist since the cost to remedy the nuisance is so minor and the potential harm caused by the nuisance is so great .

Continue reading " Atlanta Road Grates Still Not Safe " »