Atlanta Injury Lawyers Blog

The Georgia Court of Appeals recently approved the award of attorneys’ fees in a case that was appealed from DeKalb County Superior Court. In Roofers Edge Inc. v. Standard Building Co. Inc. A08A1060; A08A2109 (11/17/09), the appellate court found that there was “some evidence” for the jury to conclude that the defendant acted in bad faith and to award attorneys’ fees to the plaintiff. In this case, the defendant, Standard Building Co., Inc., failed to pay the plaintiff, Roofers Edge, Inc. for subcontracted metal roofing work on a construction project; then denied the existence of a contract or that Roofers Edge had completed the work. It did, however, admit at trial that Roofers Edge was entitled to payment, less a setoff.

At first blush, this case appears to have little to do with personal injury litigation. However, this case is applicable to all litigation in Georgia state courts including auto accidents, slip and fall injuries, premises liablity and any other type of personal injury claim brought in Georgia. This case explains the circumstances under which a plaintiff may be awarded attorneys’ fees, in addition to other monetary damages which they may be entitled to.

As the court notes in its decision, Georgia state code OCGA 13-6-11 provides for the award of attorneys’ fees to a plaintiff when a defendant “has acted in bad faith, has been stubbornly litigious, or has caused the plaintiff unnecessary trouble and expense. A refusal to pay in bad faith means a frivolous and unfounded denial of liability. Similarly, “stubborn litigiousness,” and “causing the plaintiff unnecessary trouble and expense” refer to a defendant’s forcing the plaintiff to sue when no bona fide controversy exists.” Many Georgia lawyers and judges refer to this as the “so sue me” attitude. Importantly, this issue (whether or not the defendant acted in bad faith, etc.) is an issue for the jury to decide. In other words, the jury decides whether the plaintiff is awarded his or her attorneys’ fees and expenses of litigation in addition to the other damages that the plaintiff is seeking in the lawsuit.

The state of Georgia recently enacted a new law that allows the victims of automobile accidents to access more insurance coverage. Under the new law, car owners can purchase uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage that can be “stacked” on top of liability insurance of the driver who caused the accident. This is helpful when you are injured in an automobile accident by a negligent driver and the negligent driver does not have enough insurance to fully compensate you for your personal injuries.

As an experienced Georgia Injury Lawyer, I can’t over-emphasize how important this is here in Atlanta, where many drivers on the road carry minimum insurance limits. What is especially troubling about this situation is that these are usually the very same drivers that cause catastrophic wrecks and do not have the personal assets to satisfy a large judgment against them.

The new law enables you (the injured driver in an automobile accident due to the fault of someone else) to collect the other driver’s liability insurance and then access your own uninsured motorist coverage after the other driver’s insurance coverage is exhausted. Prior to the new law, many Georgia motorists who had paid premiums for uninsured motorists coverage would not be allowed to collect these benefits because their coverage would only “kick in” if the uninsured motorists coverage exceeded the at-fault driver’s liability coverage.