Atlanta Injury Lawyers Blog

There are new laws in place which affect how Plaintiff lawyers must handle personal injury settlement funds in Georgia.

Starting July 1, 2009, insurance companies are subject to new reporting requirements which may hold up the settlement and payment to residents of Georgia who have been injured in car accidents and other types of personal injury claims.

Pursuant to the new laws, liability insurers (including workers' compensation insurers and group health plan plans) are required to determine whether any individual who files a claim against the insurer or any entity insured or covered by the insurer would be entitled to Medicare benefits. If so, the insurer must provide Medicare with that person's identity and any other information that may be required by the Secretary of Health and Human Services (Secretary). This information must be furnished to Medicare within the time specified by the Secretary after the claim is
resolved through settlement, judgment, award or other payment, regardless of whether there has been an admission of liability.

Failure of the insurance companies to comply with these new requirements could result in penalties.If an insurer or other Responsible Reporting Entity fails to notify Medicare in accordance with these guidelines, a civil penalty of $1,000 per day will be charged per claimant. In addition, Medicare now has the right to audit these entities who pay out to injured plaintiffs, and these entities must comply with the new registrations requirements.

Employers have been negatively impacted by the sour Georgia economy and many have been cutting costs to remain profitable. Unfortunately for many hard-working Georgians, some employers have been cutting costs by offering less (or in some cases none at all) severance packages to terminated employees. As a Georgia lawyer with a great amount of experience representing terminated workers>; executives who are not fully paid salary owed to them, and salespeople who are not paid commissions owed to them upon termination, I am seeing a strong surge in the amount of claims related to these areas over the last 2 years. This post focuses on severance pay.

Absent a written contract which requires certain payments upon termination, severance payments are not required in Georgia. However, many employers choose to provide severance packages to terminated employees for a number of reasons. Many employers provide severance pay to garner goodwill with their employees (this goodwill extends not only to the fired employee, but also to the current employees who see how well the terminated employee is treated and, hence, view the employer in a better light). However, some employers use severance payments as a shield against any future liability or waiver of all future claims and lawsuits by the terminated employee. This is where it gets complicated and when you should consult with an experience Georgia lawyer if you are put in this situation.

Many times the employer will offer a severance package and present it to the terminated employee with a "full release of liability." The offer of severance will be open for a short time and is expressly conditioned on the employee signing the release by the deadline imposed by the employer.

While this may be "good business" for the employer, it may not be in your best interest to sign the release and take the severance being offered. This is a difficult decision that should be discussed with a good attorney to make sure you do not leave any money on the table, or that you do not release valuable legal claims that you may have. Some fired employees may have potential lawsuits related to outstanding commissions that are being wrongfully withheld by the employer. final paychecks, unlawful discrimination, OSHA violations, Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) violation, or any number of other valuable claims. At a minimum, your potential claims should be discussed with an experienced Georgia business lawyer prior to signing anything given to you.

Continue reading " Georgia Severance Pay " »

Once again, we are reminded of the dangerous conditions which some Atlanta pedestrians are subjected to while they are walking and biking on city and county roads. According to recent reports, Atlanta resident Carol Sandlin suffered a serious ankle injury and was rushed to Emory Hospital for treatment when she fell while trying to cross North Decatur Road where it intersects with Oakdale Drive. Ms. Sandlin and her husband reported the dangerous intersection (which legally constitutes a "nuisance") to the Atlanta Journal Constitution in hopes that the broken concrete and sunken roadway would be repaired by the county before someone else is injured.

Generally, the local municipality charged with maintaining the roadway and sidewalk in good condition (i.e., safe and free from dangerous defects) is legally responsible to a pedestrian who suffers an injury if the municipality knew or should have known about the dangerous condition and failed to make adequate repairs. Depending on the circumstances, the liable municipality in the Atlanta area would be The City of Atlanta, Dekalb County, Fulton County, the City of Decatur, Cobb County, Clayton County, the City of Marietta, Gwinnett County, etc.

What is especially worrisome about dangerous intersections is that, not only does the injured pedestrian fall and suffer from any number of injuries related to the fall (e.g., broken ankle, broken arm, torn rotator cuff, head injuries), but once they fall, they risk being run over by passing cars on busy streets and intersections. This is why local city and county agencies must be vigilant about making these needed repairs.

Continue reading " Dangerous Crosswalk in Dekalb County Georgia " »

As an experienced medical malpractice lawyer in Georgia, I am often asked to recommend a good nursing home. While I am reluctant to give specific recommendations, I do understand how important this decision is and offer some helpful advice here. First, the Georgia Department of Community Health maintains records on nursing and assisted living homes/facilities. Second, Georgia nursing homes are governed by O.C.G.A. 31-8-130. Finally, and most important by far, get as many references as you can from each facility and actually follow up with the references.

Considering the horrific accounts of neglect, abuse and mistreatment that are reported about many Georgia nursing homes, mental institutions and treatment facilities, the above steps are important. Not only is there not enough staff to care for the residents, many times the staff members that are on duty do not possess the training and skills to properly carry out their duties. This leads to inattentiveness, mistakes and, ultimately, inadequate care.