Chancellor Bismark in Germany said that those who love laws and sausages should not see how either are made. Anyone who has watched a legislative body in action can well understand what he meant. However, we lawyers have to work with the statutes legislators pass, and try to make some sense out of those sausages. For that purpose rules of statutory construction have evolved in the courts. Following is a working memo briefly summarizing some of the principles of statutory construction that have been applied in Georgia and elsewhere, though it is not exhuastive in the citation of case authorities.

The Shigley Law Firm represents plaintiffs in wrongful death and catastrophic injury cases statewide in Georgia, and in other states subject to the multijurisdictional practice and pro hac vice rules in each state. Ken Shigley was designated as a “SuperLawyer” in Atlanta Magazine and one of the “Legal Elite” in Georgia Trend Magazine. He is a Certified Civil Trial Advocate of the National Board of Trial Advocacy, Chair of the Southeastern Motor Carrier Liability Institute and former chair of the Georgia Insurance Law Institute. He particularly focuses on cases arising from truck wrecks and accidents (tractor trailers truck wrecks, semi truck wrecks,18 wheeler truck wrecks, big rig truck wrecks, log truck wrecks, dump truck wrecks).