Civil Litigation

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mediation_explainedHaving served as the neutral mediator in hundreds of cases as well as the advocate for clients in hundreds of other mediations, I have come to see both the strengths and weaknesses of this method of settling personal injury and wrongful death cases.

Judges love to refer cases for mediation because every case that settles is one less case the judge has to deal with on the court docket. It simply saves the judge a lot of time and work. Perhaps the chances of court ordered mediation succeeding could be improved with a little more court involvement in setting up…

facebook-iphoneMost of us today carry cell phones in our pockets with more processing power than the computers aboard the Apollo moon missions. Frequent news reports illustrate the dangers of thoughtless use of smartphones and social media. It has ensnared politicians and celebrities, sometimes crashing promising careers. This technology has created similar hazards for both plaintiffs and defendants in litigation who are careless about online social media privacy. While we are quick to look for the other side’s vulnerabilities, we must also play defense in protecting our clients from their own electronic blunders.

Many people today, especially younger ones, think…

Proposed new Georgia Judicial Building, future home of Supreme Court and Court of Appeals
Proposed new Georgia Judicial Building, future home of Supreme Court and Court of Appeals

It appears that by time he leaves office at the beginning of 2019, Governor Nathan Deal will have:

  • Vastly reformed our criminal justice system;
  • Expanded the Supreme Court and Court of Appeals;
  • Appointed a majority of the Supreme Court and Court of Appeals;
  • Appointed a substantial portion of the state’s Superior Court and State Court trial judges;
  • Launched construction of a new landmark Judicial Building near the Capitol building; and
  • Facilitated creation of a statewide electronic court filing system.

Fortunately, he will…

home-invasion-480x320Atlantans were shocked a couple of weeks ago by the story of a home invasion robbery attempt in which teenage males approached a young father on his front porch, forced their way into the house and shot the father twice. His wife fled out the back door with their six-month-old infant while the invaders fired shots at her, and called 911 while hiding from them.

The alleged shooter, 18-year-old Brandon Jerome Smith, was arrested several days ago. Now three younger teenagers — 15-year-old Trequan Sutton, 15-year-old Quindarius Slade, and 14-year-old Veshawn Smith — have turned themselves in. They are…

hold hands

The “laying on of hands” can resonate powerfully. In my background, it has spiritual and theological implications as a ritual of blessing or of healing. Can this and other senses beyond sight and hearing also be part of legitimate trial advocacy in conveying truth to jurors?

The Georgia Court of Appeals recently said yes in the context of a case where two experts disagreed on whether there was a difference in temperature of the hands of a plaintiff who had a diagnosis of complex regional pain syndrome (also known as reflex sympathetic dystrophy), due to medical malpractice.…

Ken Shigley of Atlanta, who was president of the State Bar of Georgia in 2011-12, is now chair of the largest practice area section in the American Association for Justice (AAJ), the national organization of plaintiffs’ trial attorneys. Shigley took the helm of the Motor Vehicle Collision, Highway & Premises Liability Section of AAJ and the organization’s annual convention in Montreal on July 14, 2015.

ken_shigley_coverWith over 2,500 members nationwide, the section includes specialized litigation practice groups on Trucking Litigation, Bus Litigation, Traumatic Brain Injury, Spinal Cord Injury, Motorcycle Litigation, Bicycle Litigation, Resort Torts Litigation and…

In the case of Hartley v. Agnes Scott College, the Supreme Court addressed the question “whether a campus police officer employed by a private college qualifies as a “state officer or employee” who may assert immunity from tort suits under the Georgia Tort Claims Act.” Last year, a plurality decision of the Court of Appeals concluded that the defendant Agnes Scott College police officers were entitled to immunity. Agnes Scott College v. Hartley, 321 Ga. App. 74 (741 SE2d 199) (2013).

In reversing the Court of Appeals, Associate Justice David Nahmias, a Harvard Law graduate who clerked for U.…

At the State Bar of Georgia 2013 annual meeting last week at Hilton Head Island, SC, I was presented a resolution commemorating 14 years on the Board of Governors and 6 years on the Executive Committee, which included one year each as secretary (2008-09), treasurer (2009-10), president-elect (2010-11), president (2011-12) and immediate past president (2012-13). The same day I presided over my last meeting as chair of the board of trustees of the Institute for Continuing Legal Education in Georgia. For a while last year it looked like I might also become a Court of Appeals judge, but things…

Many prospective clients in serious personal injury and wrongful death claims ask questions about legal fees and litigation expenses in handling their cases. As an Atlanta personal injury trial attorney handling serious injury and death cases across Georgia, and as an individual who remembers very well what it is like to be flat broke and in debt, I am very sensitive to those questions.

The short answer is that in handling personal injury and wrongful death cases for individuals and families, I do not require any money up front from clients whose cases I accept. I evaluate the merits of…

In the past few years, half the work and hassle in representing individuals in personal injury claims is the endless hassle with medical lien claims.

Medicare, which asserts claims under the Medicare Secondary Payer Act, is often the hardest to deal with because the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) bureaucracy is infamously slow and difficult to deal with, and will never tell us the amount they demand before we settle a case with the other side.

I had one case in my office in which it took 18 months after the case settled, writing to them about every…