Q.  Can I sue an animal doctor for giving my dog a vaccination shot that made him so sick that he had to be put down?

A.  Theoretically yes. Practically, it’s probably not worth it. The measure of damage for death of an animal in Georgia — even the most beloved family pet — is the cash value of the animal. What could you have sold the animal for on the market the day before the vaccination? Probably not much more than the cost of the court filing fee.

Ken Shigley is a trial attorney in Atlanta, Georgia who has been listed as a "Super Lawyer" (Atlanta Magazine), among the "Legal Elite" (Georgia Trend Magazine), and in the Bar Register of Preeminent Lawyers (Martindale), and is a Certified Civil Trial Advocate of the National Board of Trial Advocacy,. Mr. Shigley has extensive experience representing parties in trucking and bus accidents, products liability, catastrophic personal injury, wrongful death, brain injury, spinal cord injury and burn injury cases.  Currently he is Secretary of the 40,000 member State Bar of Georgia.