Atlanta Personal Injury Lawyers Blog

Three people were killed in two separate highway car accidents last week in Atlanta and north Georgia after they exited their vehicles after minor car accidents. In the first incident, 2 young women, one the mother of an eleven month old daughter, were killed Saturday January 30 when struck by a tow truck coming to the scene of a minor accident on I-20 near I-75. I have attached a CBS Atlanta video about the incident.

According to an AJC on line article, the second incident occurred on the evening of Friday February 5 on I-575 in Cherokee county. In the second incident, the driver of a vehicle involved in an earlier car accident had exited his vehicle and was standing in the median when a tractor trailer that veered to avoid the first collision struck and killed him.

As an Atlanta car accident and tractor trailer attorney, it saddens me because these types of tragic deaths can be avoided in most situations. Indeed, the family of the young mother in the Friday night incident stated in an interview on cbsatlanta.com that they believe that had she and her friend stayed in the vehicle, they would be alive today. That may very well be true.

If you are involved in an accident on a highway, you should follow some basic safety rules:

1. If possible, safely move the vehicles as far as possible off the roadway.
2. If you are capable, and as soon as you are out of harms way, call 911.
3. Stay in your vehicle until emergency personnel make the scene safe and tell you to exit your vehicle (even if your vehicle is off the roadway).
4. If you feel you must exit your vehicle, be extremely careful doing so and move as far away from your vehicle, traffic and danger as possible.

Following these simple rules can save your life. We cannot second guess if the 3 victims last week would not have been killed had they stayed in their vehicles. But nothing I read about the incidents indicated to me that the vehicles they exited were in any way further damaged after the original collisions.

Regardless, the families of the victims need to know their legal rights. This will be especially true for family of the young mother who left behind an eleven month old daughter. The fact that the drivers and passenger exited their vehicles does not mean that the drivers of the vehicles that ran them down are not liable for the deaths. If the drivers were in anyway negligent for the killings, the families of the deceased may be entitled to wrongful death damages.

In Georgia, good wrongful death attorneys know the survivors of a person wrongfully killed are entitled to recover the medical bills, funeral bills, pain and suffering and the full value of the life of the deceased. The value of these damages can be significant, often exceeding a million dollars. Hopefully, once they are able to begin to move on and heal from the deaths of their loved ones, the families of these deceased will talk to competent accident injury lawyers to discuss their rights.

As a personal injury lawyer practicing in Atlanta and north Georgia, I was saddened today when I read an article in the Atlanta Journal Constitution on line about 3 children who were violently attacked and seriously injured by five dogs that had escaped from their owner's yard in southern California. Most injured of the three was a 5 year old girl who was pulled from her mother's arms and tossed about like a rag doll by a mastiff that punctured the girl's lung, broke numerous ribs, and inflicted several bites. The girl remains hospitalized since Monday and is unable to breath on her own.

The girl's 7 year old brother also remains hospitalized after needing 237 staples to close a leg wound, and her 8 year old sister was treated for leg and arm injuries. After the incident one of the dogs was shot when it attacked an officer and the other 4, including the mastiff and what appeared to be pit bull mixes, were taken into custody and quarantined to determine whether they have rabies and whether they should be destroyed.

As part of my Georgia injury practice, I represent victims of dog bites and attacks like the family in California. I have a personal connection to my clients in these cases as I was attacked by a German Sheppard when I was 6 years old. As a result, my left calf was almost torn off and it took over 100 stitches to repair it. To this day, unfortunately, I have not completely gotten over my general fear of dogs.

The difficulty in handling dog attack cases is proving the owner was negligent for the dog's behavior. In Georgia, OCGA § 51-2-7, as amended effective July 1, 1985, provides:

A person who owns or keeps a vicious or dangerous animal of any kind and who, by careless management or by allowing the animal to go at liberty, causes injury to another person who does not provoke the injury by his own act may be liable in damages to the person so injured. In proving vicious propensity, it shall be sufficient to show that the animal was required to be at heel or on a leash by an ordinance of a city, county, or consolidated government, and the said animal was at the time of the occurrence not at heel or on a leash.

Under this statute, generally speaking, you prove an owner's negligence by (1) showing the dog was off the owner's property and in violation of the local leash law or ordinance, or (2) even if the dog was not off the owner's property and/or not in violation of the local leash law, showing that the dog was vicious or dangerous and that the owner had knowledge of this fact. It is not enough to show the owner had reason to know the animal had a propensity to do harm; rather, it is necessary he has reason to know that it has a propensity to do the harm of the type it inflicts.

In the California case, it appears the owner of the dogs will be liable for the vicious attacks and horrible injuries suffered by the children as it appears that if the city or county where the attacks occurred had any type of leash law, the owner was most likely in violation of such law when the attacks occurred. It would be a much more difficult case if the children had been on the owner's property and not in violation of the local leash laws.

In that case, there would have to be evidence that the owner had knowledge of prior episodes where the dogs had previously attacked. It is not only insufficient that the owner might have known the dogs were aggressive; it is also insufficient to simply show the dogs were violent breeds. Actual knowledge of prior attacks is what is necessary.

The experienced trial lawyers in our office know the law and the facts required to properly litigate a case to recover damages resulting from a dog bite or attack. If you or a family member has been through the frightening and painful experience of being attached by a dog, please call me to discuss whether you have a case against the owner of the dog. I know what you have been through.

I know I am beginning to sound like a broken record, but texting and driving kills. I just read another article in the Atlanta Journal Constitution on line where a Douglasville driver ran a red light in Alabama killing the driver of the other vehicle. It is not certain that the driver was texting, and I hope that is not the case. Unfortunately, it is likely the driver was texting and that is why he ran the light.

As an Atlanta personal injury lawyer who practices all over north Georgia, I am seeing more serious injury and deaths caused by texting drivers causing violent collisions. The article I read about the Alabama fatality, also mentioned a collision where a Lilburn man six days ago crashed his car into a tree while texting a friend. Thankfully, in that crash, the driver had only minor injuries and was treated and released from the hospital.

Charges have not yet been filed in the Alabama case. The State Patrol is still investigating, and although they feel texting was involved, they cannot yet prove it. The next step will be to subpoena the Douglasville driver's phone records. If the records confirm he was texting, charges will be filed, most likely for vehicular homicide. The Lilburn driver was charged with improper use of a cell phone by a driver.

As I mentioned in a previous blog, the Georgia General Assembly is working on two bills that would make the act of texting and driving illegal in Georgia. Both bills would require a fine between $100 and $300, and one of the bills would put two points on the offender's license. As far as I am concerned, the legislation can not be passed fast enough. Ever day I get another call or read another article about the perils of texting and driving. You would think that the perils of texting and driving are now absolutely obvious (both intuitively and because of all the press on the topic), and that legislation would not be needed. But like drinking and driving, we human beings will put others at serious risk of injury unless it is illegal to do so.

And even when it is illegal, we human beings will continue at some level to ignore the law and cause great harm. Even if the legislation is passed to make texting and driving illegal, I expect it will still be a problem for that very reason. And I worry many more drivers will continue to text and drive than now drink and drive. For the family of the driver killed in Alabama and all others killed and seriously injured by texting drivers, I hope I am wrong.

As a big part of my practice as an Atlanta personal injury lawyer in north Georgia, I handle many cases involving neck and back injuries. Many of these injuries are caused by motor vehicle accidents - involving cars, motor cycles and tractor trailers. Oftentimes surgery is required to treat these injuries. Unfortunately, insurance companies insuring the at-fault parties causing the accidents argue that such surgeries are not necessary to treat accident related injuries, but are needed to treat pre-existing conditions. The insurance companies do this to avoid paying the full value of a claim.

Typically, after an accident, my clients will feel pain and discomfort in their necks and/or backs and seek conservative treatment to treat these conditions. If conservative treatment is unsuccessful in resolving the problems, they will often have epidural steroid injections directly into the effected part of the spine. If these shots provide no relief, surgery becomes the last option.

The surgical procedures performed in these situations can include a diskectomy and fusion of the cervical (neck) or lumbar (back) spine; a decompression lamenectomy of the cervical or lumbar spine; a facetectomy of the cervical or lumbar spine, or some combination all of these procedures. These procedures are complicated, painful and proper recovery takes a lot of time.

The insurance companies, in an effort to justify not compensating for these procedures, will claim there is pre-existing arthritis and degenerative disc disease, including, spinal stenosis, osteophites, disc desication, spondilosis, and spondiolythesis, that are the cause of the surgery. The truth is, it is likely these conditions are present in the spine and do pre-exist the accident. That fact, however, does not mean the surgery was not required because of the accident and that the at-fault party/insurance company is not responsible for the related medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering.

An experienced Atlanta car and trucking accident attorney will know the complicated medicine related to spinal injuries and how to convince insurance companies - or the juries, if need be - that the surgery was required by the injuries caused in the collision and needs to be compensated. Arthritis and degenerative disc disease are often asymptomatic (they do not cause any pain, discomfort, numbness, tingling, etc.), and the trauma to the body in even low impact collisions can cause the otherwise painless conditions to become very painful and life changing. Don't let an insurance company determine whether your injuries and surgery are the result on their insured negligent actions. Please contact our firm if you or a loved one has suffered spinal injuries in a car or trucking accident to ensure this does not happen.

As an Atlanta car accident attorney, I was saddened to read in the Atlanta Journal Constitution on line that a 45 year old man was killed when he was thrown from the back of a pickup truck on I-285. The pickup truck rolled over after colliding with another vehicle and there was nothing the man in the back of the truck could do to protect himself. The driver and two passengers inside the truck suffered minor or no injuries.

In Georgia, it is illegal to carry passengers in the bed of a pickup truck on the interstate. Although no charges have yet been filed, on the facts set out in the newspaper article, it appears the driver of the pickup truck was violating Georgia law which contributed to the man's death. Even if no charges are filed, the driver may very well be liable to the family of the deceased man for his wrongful death.

Generally speaking, the estate and survivors of a deceased wrongfully killed in Georgia may recover damages for the medical bills, funeral expenses, conscious pain and suffering, and full economic and non-economic value of the life of the deceased. Wrongful death claims in Georgia can have signnificant value, oftentimes in the millons of dollars. Because of the significant values, insurance companies often fight hard to find ways to deny liability and pay little or nothing when these claims are made.

Accordingly, these cases need to be handled by experienced car accident lawyers familiar with the complicated issues involved in litigating wrongful death cases in Georgia. Hopefully, the family of the deceased in the article will be fortunate to have such competent counsel.

As an Atlanta personal injury lawyer practicing in north Georgia, I have written on this blog more than once about the dangers of texting while driving both cars and trucks. It seems that such behavior is condemned by many, and on Monday of this week, Oprah Winfrey discussed the dangers of texting and driving and the catastrophic consequences of such behavior.

It now appears that the Georgia General Assembly is seeking to pass a bill banning testing while driving and imposing stiff fines as punishment for such behavior. According to a recent article in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution on line, two members of the Georgia House of Representatives have introduced bills that would ban the practice. Under what will most likely be a bill merged out of the two original bills, "anyone found guilty of writing, sending or reading a text message while driving" would be subject to a fine most likely between $100 and $300 and have points added to their license.

The authors of the bills believe the legislation will save lives. The article gives the example of the grandson of a constituent of one of the bill's authors who recently died in a head-on collision. After the tragedy, the police investigation revealed that the young driver had sent six texts from the time he got in the car and the accident. It is likely that the last of those texts distracted the driver causing the vehicle to drift into the head-on collision. Texting and driving is becoming a very big problem with not only young people, but also adults. It distracts drivers and is a leading cause of accidents causing serous injury and deaths.

According to the newspaper article, a ban on testing and driving is the AAA's top legislative priority. If a bill passes in Georgia, our state will join 19 other states in banning the practice. If the bill passes in Georgia, it may also raise the stakes of civil penalties when suits are brought for damages for causing serious injuries and death while texting and driving. Punitive damages will now most certainly be available to punish and deter this behavior. It will be difficult for an offender to argue that they did not know how dangerous texting and driving is once it is banned.

I have recently been retained by two clients to pursue premises liability claims for injuries resulting from two separate criminal assaults in south Atlanta. As an Atlanta personal injury lawyer, I regularly get calls from victims of crimes or their family members where an individual is criminally attacked and assaulted. The assaults may include beatings, muggings, car jackings, shootings, stabbings, robbery and rape and often times result in catastrophic psychological and physical injuries and death.

Inadequate security at hotels and motels, apartment complexes, gas stations, convenient stores, shopping malls, parking lots, movie theaters, bank ATM's, as well as other retail businesses, is the reason many of these attacks occur. An owner or operator of a business must exercise ordinary care in keeping their premises safe. This duty includes protecting patrons and business guests from injury and death caused by foreseeable criminal acts of third parties.

Whether damages can be recovered against the land or business owner or operator depends on whether the crime was "foreseeable" and the security was inadequate. There is a huge body of case law on what makes a crime foreseeable. In making this determination, the courts look at previous similar criminal activity in the area. Generally, the prior criminal activity must be substantially similar, but does not have to be identical.

Substantially similar means the prior crimes should have put an ordinary prudent person on notice that the patron or guest was facing an increased risk of attack. It is a comparison of the nature of the crimes that determine similarity - was it a crime against a person or against property alone - and not a comparison of the details of the crime or even the degree of force used. Making an appropriated showing of substantial similarity and the foreseeabilty of the crime is critical to the success to recovering damages in these types of cases.

If you can convince the court and jury that the crime is foreseeable, you then next need to show that the security measures were inadequate and that adequate security would have prevented the attack. This can also be difficult, but is often much easier to prove than whether the crime was foreseeable because many businesses are concerned about costs, and things like putting up fences, installing and monitoring security cameras, providing adequate lighting and hiring security guards all cost money, but don't make money. Also, juries can understand that these types of security measures do prevent crime.

The two new cases I have are going to take a lot of time and energy and legal skill to properly handle. These are not simple fender bender claims and cannot be handled by just any lawyer. If you or a family member has been a victim to a crime and think you may have a claim against the owner or operator of the land or business where the attack occurred, please make sure the lawyer you talk to can handle this type of case.

This morning I was saddened to read in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution on line about a bicyclist killed in a collision in Woodstock, Georgia. As a personal injury lawyer who represents clients throughout north Georgia and as an avid cyclist, I am well aware of the risks of cycling on the roads in metro Atlanta and the surrounding communities. The article had very little information about what happened, but did say that the driver of a Van pulled out from a bank parking lot and the cyclist was killed when he rode his bike into the side of the Van. What a tragedy.

It is impossible for me to say at this time who was at fault for causing the collision, but my guess is that the driver of the Van failed to yield to the bike pulling into the road thinking the road was clear when it wasn't. As a cyclist, I have had many close calls when cars, vans, trucks, etc., have done the same thing to me. As a personal injury lawyer, I have represented other cyclists who have been badly injured when this has happened to them. This time, someone was killed.

Road biking is a wonderful sport and is especially enjoyable this time of year when the leaves are turning and the weather is perfect. Unfortunately, it is a very dangerous activity with the amount of traffic on our Georgia roads. I am hopeful that motorist will be reminded by this tragic accident to be more diligent to look out for both bicyclist and motorcyclist as they travel out roads.

My thoughts and prayers are with the family of the deceased.

As a personal injury lawyer in Atlanta and north Georgia, I am always interested in articles written in magazines and newspapers that are related to my practice. Today, I read two such articles in the New York Times on line. Both articles dealt with texting and driving and the catastrophic consequences of doing so.

The first article was entitled "Driven to Distraction: When Texting Kills, Britain Offers Path to Prison." This article discussed at length the tragic death of a 24 for year old university trained fashion designer caused by a 22 year old woman that plowed her car into the rear of the deceased's vehicle while texting. She had exchanged nearly two dozen texts with five different friends the hour before the fatal collision, and a last incoming message that was never opened came in seconds before the accident.

A jury convicted the 22 year old and a judge sentenced her to 21 months in a high security prison. The article discussed the case at length but also discussed British attitudes toward texting and driving and the criminal laws against the practice. The case has driven home to Britains the serious consequences of texting and driving, and a prison sentence from 4 to 7 years is now recommended if I person is killed when a driver is texting and causes an accident.

In a related article, "Many in the U.S. Want Texting at the Wheel to be Illegal," the author discusses the findings of a recent New York Times/CBS News poll finding that nearly all Americans say texting while driving should be punished as harshly as drunken driving. The article discusses other poll findings including that 80 percent of those polled felt using a hand-held cell phone while driving should be also illegal.

Several Blogs ago I wrote about the perils of texting and driving. As the articles discussed above indicate, the consequences of texting and driving can be catastrophic injuries including death, and we can expect more States to make doing so illegal. If you have been injured in an accident by a distracted motorist texting while driving, please call me to discuss your claims and damages and the possibility of pursuing punitive damages to help deter this behavior.

Our Georgia personal injury lawyers are representing two pedestrians run down by an Atlanta driver distracted by using her cell phone and not paying attention to her driving. This car accident was caused by the driver cutting across the wrong lanes of traffic while pulling out of a driveway. Because she was on the phone, she never saw our clients who were lawfully crossing the roadway. Our clients were plowed over and seriously injured and their lives will be changed forever.

If you drive anywhere in metro Atlanta and are paying attention, it seems more drivers than not are on the phone - and most do not have hands free devices. Studies show that drivers using cell phones (whether held by hand or using hands free devices) are significantly more distracted than drivers not on phones. Indeed, we expect the number of accidents in Atlanta and Georgia caused by drivers talking on cell phones will continues to climb because cell phone use has exploded and will continue to rise.

The injury lawyers of our firm have handled many of these types of cases. Numerous cases have involved large SUVs and truckers. Death and catastrophic injuries are often the result when large passenger vehicles and semi trucks are involved. This is especially true when the driver is distracted to the extent that often times he or she is unaware the accident is going to occur until it actually happens.

If you have been injured or a family member has been injured or killed in an accident caused by a driver of a car or truck using a cell phone, please call our offices to talk to one of our injury lawyers about your rights.

It seems new Atlanta clients are calling the Atlanta injury lawyers weekly regarding claims for personal injuries caused in car accidents and trucking accidents where the drivers of the other vehicles were driving under the influence (DUI). There were 2 more this week. The first case involved a client who suffered internal injuries and two broken bones in her leg after the drunk driver ran a red light and t-boned my client's vehicle totaling both vehicles. The other driver had been drinking beer all day while watching college football and had a blood alcohol level that was beyond twice the legal limit.

The second case involved a client who also suffered serious injuries when the other driver slammed into the back of his vehicle while stopped at a red light. The other driver in this case had been taking prescription drugs and drinking beer. Although this driver's blood alcohol level was just beyond the legal limit, the police report narrative indicated that the driver could barely walk upright and had severely slurred speech.

In these types of cases, injured clients are entitled to claim the typical damages for medical bills, lost wages, and physical and emotional pain and suffering. But cases involving DUI drivers, whether involving alcohol or drugs, allow for additional punitive damages. Punitive damages are meant to punish and deter the behavior of the drunk driver. Because punitive damages can significantly increase the value of a claim, it is very important to hire an attorney who knows how to properly pursue these damages.

In addition to the facts of the accident at issue with the client, the drinking and driving history of the at-fault party is critical to the value of the case. If the drunk driver has prior or post DUI arrests and convictions, the case becomes much more valuable. Most juries understand the need to send a clear message to the habitual drunk driver that such behavior is not acceptable. Clearly criminal penalties are not causing a change of behavior. The jury can easily understand, therefore, that a significant financial penalty is needed to get the driver's attention that drinking and driving will not be tolerated.

The attorneys in our firm know how to obtain the complete drinking and driving histories of DUI drivers and to most effectively use this information. Please call to talk to one of our attorneys if you have been in an accident and you know or suspect the other driver was drinking or under the influence of drugs. We can help you.

I have received numerous telephone calls recently from individuals who already have hired a lawyer, but who want to get a new lawyer because their lawyer will not return their phone calls. While as an Atlanta personal injury lawyer I am always happy to get calls from potential clients in a personal injury or wrongful death case, these calls disappoint me because it means fellow members of my profession are treating their clients unprofessionally.

If you have hired a lawyer to represent you in a personal injury or wrongful death lawsuit (this actually applies to anyone who has hired an attorney to represent them for any reason), you have the right to be treated with respect throughout the representation and to have your phone calls and emails returned in a timely manner. You also have the right to have your questions answered and to be updated on the status of your case at regular intervals.

If you are not getting the kind of service you expect from your lawyer, schedule an appointment to meet with him or her in person to discuss your expectations. By meeting with your lawyer and bringing your concerns to their attention, it is likely he or she will be more responsive to your future needs. You definitely want to give them a chance to make things right before finding another lawyer.

Providing superior legal services to the residents of central and north Georgia is my business. If I receive a telephone message or email from a client, if the call or email is not related to an emergency - which I attend to immediately - I try to return the call or email by the end of the same business day. If for some reason I cannot respond by the end of the same day, I respond no later than 24 hours after receiving the message. I understand that being seriously injured or having a family member killed by the negligent acts of others and pursuing a lawsuit to recover damages related to such losses can be stressful and oftentimes very confusing. That is why it is important to have skilled and competent lawyers handling your case and giving you the attention you deserve.

As a personal injury trial lawyer who regularly travels the roads of Atlanta and north Georgia, I am shocked to see other motorists texting as they operate their cars and trucks. With one or both hands off the steering wheel and their eyes focused down on their cell phones, blackberries and I-phones, these reckless individuals seem to have no idea that their vehicles are more deadly and more likely to kill than a loaded gun.

If the driver of a motor vehicle is texting while traveling on a roadway, the likelihood of a very serious accident resulting in catastrophic injuries and death becomes a real possibility. Causing a deadly head-on collision, traveling into an intersection on a red light or through a stop sign, or striking the rear of a vehicle stopped in traffic at a high rate of speed are the likely consequences of a texting driver. Injuries from these types of accidents are often very serious, including, but not limited to, severely broken bones, serious internal injuries, brain damage, disfigurement, paralysis, and death.

Oftentimes it is an innocent victim of the texting driver that is severely injured or killed. It is surprising to me that the Georgia General Assembly has not made it a criminal offense to text while operating any type of motor vehicle on the roads of Georgia. I expect that such legislation will be passed in the future. Indeed, other states already have passed such legislation and the fines and penalties are stiff.

In civil suits arising out of injuries suffered by innocent victims of a texting driver, strong arguments can be made by competent personal injury attorneys that not only compensatory damages should be awarded by the jury (for example, medical bills, lost wages, physical and mental pain and suffering, etc.), but punitive damages are also warranted because of the texting driver's reckless indifference to the consequences. It is my opinion that driving while texting is as reckless as driving while intoxicated or while under the influence of alcohol or drugs (DUI). Juries and our society should have zero tolerance for such behavior.

If you have been injured or a loved on has been killed by a driver texting while operating a motor vehicle, please do not hesitate to call me or my partner to discuss your situation.

The Georgia Supreme Court issued an opinion today having a tremendous impact on personal injury cases, especially automobile accident, trucking and other road wreck cases. Until today, with very few exceptions, negligently injured individuals and the families of loved ones wrongfully killed on the roads of Georgia had 2 years to the day of the wreck to file a lawsuit. In Beneke v. Parker, S08G2078 S08G2082 (9/28/09), the Supreme Court held that in situations where the at-fault driver receives a citation for violating the rules of the road, the two-year statute of limitations is tolled (does not begin to run), until the citation is disposed of. This is a huge.

The facts of the case are straightforward. Ms. Parker was injured in a car accident on April 27, 2005, when she was a passenger in a vehicle which was struck from the rear by Mr. Beneke. Beneke was cited for following too closely. Parker filed a lawsuit against Beneke on May 11, 2007. On motion by Beneke, the trial court first dismissed the lawsuit because it was not filed within the two-year statute of limitations. On reconsideration, however, the trial court vacated it previous order and allowed the case to move forward. The case was appealed to the Georgia Court of Appeals and ultimately to the Supreme Court. Construing Georgia law, the Supreme Court agreed with the trial court and found the complaint was timely filed because the statute of limitations did not begin to run until the traffic citation was disposed of on May 19, 2005.

The Court recognized that its holding would have significant impact on personal injury lawsuits arising out of vehicle accidents by tolling the statute of limitations, but the Court felt that it had no choice but to reach the result it did because of the way the relevant statute (OCGA § 9-3-99) was written. The Court noted that if the legislature did not want the statute to be construed in this way, it certainly could have written it differently. Because it did not, the court reasoned that any undesirable result was a matter properly addressed by the General Assembly rather than the courts. My guess is that when the General Assembly meets next year, it will change the language of the statute to undo the ruling in this case. Until that happens, however, the statute of limitations should be extended in most road wreck cases, giving additional time for the filing of a complaint, because the at-fault party is almost always given a citation for causing the accident by violating the rules of the road.

In my practice as an Atlanta personal injury lawyer, I am getting more and more phone calls from individuals to represent them in premises liability cases. Specifically, I have had several recent calls where someone is seriously injured after falling while visiting a store or restaurant or similar business. In Georgia, individuals injured because of a fall may be compensated for those injuries if the fall was caused by the negligence of the owner or occupier of the property involved. Slippery floors and other surfaces caused by water, grease, food, as well as many other foreign substances, are often the reason someone is negligently injured in a fall. Poorly designed, manufactured or maintained curbs, steps and walkways may also cause falls.

Falls can result in very serious, even catastrophic, injuries. Some cases I have handled have involved complex fractures and other serious injuries to hips, ankles, rists, arms, elbows and shoulders, leading to surgeries and further medical complications and even death. Older individuals are especially likely to be badly injured by a fall caused by the negligent acts of others.

Georgia law requires land owners and occupiers to exercise ordinary care for the safety of others. Specifically, O.G.C.A § 51-3-1 provides

Where an owner of occupier of land, by express or implied invitation, induces or leads others to come upon his premises for any lawful purpose, he is liable in damages to such persons for injuries caused by his failure to exercise ordinary care in keeping the premises and approaches safe.

Land owners can breach this duty of care in many ways, including, but not limited to:

1. failing to use ordinary care to keep the premises and approaches safe;
2. failing to properly inspect and maintain the premises and approaches:
3. knowingly allowing its invited guests to utilize an unsafe area of the premises;
4. failing to post warning signs or warning markings in the area;
5. failing to properly train and supervise their employees in regard to the care of the premises; and
6. failing to retain, entrust, hire, train and supervise employees.

Each of the above acts and omissions can support an independent act of negligence on the part of the land owner which can be the proximate cause of the injuries and damages sustained in a fall.

If you are injured by a negligent land owner you may recover damages for your personal injuries, pain and suffering, lost income, diminished capacity to earn, disability, disfigurement, mental anguish, loss of capacity to enjoy of life, as well as other damages. Almost any business or individual can be liable for negligently injuring another on their property or property they control. Apartment complexes, movie theaters, gas stations, grocery stores, hotels and motels, commercial buildings, restaurants, and retail stores are a few examples.

If you have any questions about, or would like to discuss, whether you might have a claim arising out of a fall you feel was caused by a land owner's negligence, please call our offices to speak with one of our attorneys. The injury lawyers of our firm have handled hundreds of premises liability cases and would welcome the opportunity to talk to you about your claim.