Atlanta Injury Lawyer Blog

Consumer Warning: Drop-Side Cribs Potentially Fatal

May 25, 2010 | Robin Frazer Clark

Congress is considering a total ban on the manufacture and sell of drop-side cribs. The fact that Congress is even discussing this indicates how truly dangerous they must be, because, as we all know, the United States Congress moves at a glacial pace (read “slow as cold molasses as we say in Kentucky) and the fact that Congress is even now addressing the issue indicates how serious the hazard of drop-side cribs must really be.

Those of us who are parents of older children most certainly raised our children using drop-side cribs. They saved us from an untold number of backaches. No doubt none of us would have used them had we only known what a terrible danger they posed to the safety of our babies, the most precious things on Earth to us. When my children were infants, I was aware of a potential danger of having too much space between the mattress and the crib railings. We were told by our physicians that an infant could scoot between the mattress and the side of the crib and become wedged there and suffocate. The test was to make sure you could get nothing more than your fingers between the mattress and the side of the crib. The current danger being investigated is similar, but occurs when a piece of hardware from the crib is missing or the drop-side is installed incorrectly, which can easily occur.

Representative Kirsten Gillibrand from New York is leading the charge in Congress. “There’s a great urgency here. We have to make sure that no parent is unaware that drop-side cribs could kill their children,” Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., said in an Associated Press interview. There have already been recalls of hundreds of thousands of cribs recalled. At least 32 young children have strangled or suffocated in the past nine years due to defects and other problems of drop-side cribs. Even one death is too many. Although drop-side cribs may soon be obselete, they will still be found at yard sales, which may pose a problem for unknowing parents. Before buying any such product, I recommend you check the Consumer Product Safety Commission’s website to verify the product you intend to buy has not been recalled and doesn’t pose a safety risk for your child.

Safety Warning: Dart Gun Recalled

May 19, 2010 | Robin Frazer Clark

The Consumer Product Safety Commission, along with the Family Dollar Store, has recalled the “Auto Fire Toy Dart Gun.” The manufacturer of the toy, Henry Gordy International, Inc., of Plainfield, NJ, has refused to recall the toy on its own, even though at least two children have died from swallowing parts of the darts. The toy dart guns were manufactured in China, which raises the issue of how safe are toys or other products manufactured in that country? Remember, this is the same country that manufactured children’s toys that had lethal levels of lead in the paint on the toys. And the same country that sold infant’s formula laced with melamine.

All very scary stuff. It is extremely difficult to advise the average consumer on what is safe and what is potentially lethal. For now, I would simply recommend continuing to check the Consumer Product Safety Commission’s website on a regular basis to see what is on their radar screen to help make your family more safe.

Robin Frazer Clark Elected Secretary, State Bar of Georgia

May 14, 2010 | Robin Frazer Clark

Friday, May 14, 2010

Incumbent unseated in State Bar election

It was the first time in memory that an office holder was challenged

Robin Frazer Clark Elected Secretary of State Bar of Georgia

May 11, 2010 | Robin Frazer Clark

I am honored and humbled to have won the election and to be the next Secretary of the State Bar of Georgia. Thank you to all of you for your support and encouragement. I couldn’t have done it without you. I am looking forward to serving you and to moving the State Bar forward.

Thanks for your votes, thanks for your asking your colleagues for their votes, thanks for your continued encouragement and and thanks for your moral support throughout what was a time and energy intensive statewide campaign. As Secretary I will work to protect the interests of the Everyday Georgian, keep the judiciary independent and preserve the Georgia Civil Justice System. I look forward to serving you this upcoming Bar year and please do not hestitate to call me or email me to share any ideas, suggestions or concerns you have about the Bar.

Thanks again. And take it from a trial lawyer: A rising tide lifts all boats!

Elect Robin Frazer Clark, Secretary State Bar of Georgia

April 30, 2010 | Robin Frazer Clark

April 30, 2010

Dear Friends:

First, let me thank you for the hundreds of telephone calls, emails, texts and well wishes you have sent my way to let me know you have already voted for me and that you support me in the race for Secretary of the State Bar. Remember, voting continues through May 3, so if you haven’t voted already there is still time. Campaigning throughout the State of Georgia and shaking literally thousands of hands and meeting thousands of my fellow Bar members has been an extremely rewarding experience for me and I’ll never forget it. Many of you who know me know my motto is “A Rising Tide Lifts All Boats.” This journey has certainly been one of “rising tides” and has made me even prouder to be a Georgia lawyer.

National No Phone Zone Day is April 30-Watch Oprah!

April 25, 2010 | Robin Frazer Clark

This Friday, April 30, is National No Phone Zone Day, thanks to Oprah. Oprah will be doing her show live on Friday here in Atlanta at the Ferst Center of Georgia Tech, in Downtown Atlanta. Oprah has created a nationwide phenomenon of awareness of just how dangerous distracted driving is. Texting While Driving (TWD) is just one familiar form of distracted driving. Our community has seen way too many teen deaths thanks to texting while driving. My regular readers know that as an Atlanta plaintiff’s personal injury lawyer, I am taking on the crusade by blogging about the dangers of TWD and trying to help get legislation passed this session of the Georgia General Assembly making it illegal to TWD. Blessings to Oprah, who has a platform like no one else, for taking on this cause.

Save a life today by taking Oprah’s No Phone Zone pledge. The life you save may be your own, or your child’s.

Elect Robin Frazer Clark, Secretary State Bar of Georgia

April 23, 2010 | Robin Frazer Clark

Dear Friends:

First, let me thank you for the hundreds of telephone calls, emails, texts and well wishes you have sent my way to let me know you have already voted for me and that you support me in the race for Secretary of the State Bar. Remember, voting continues through May 3, so if you haven’t voted already there is still time. Campaigning throughout the State of Georgia and shaking literally thousands of hands and meeting thousands of my fellow Bar members has been an extremely rewarding experience for me and I’ll never forget it. Many of you who know me know my motto is “A Rising Tide Lifts All Boats.” This journey has certainly been one of “rising tides” and has made me even prouder to be a Georgia lawyer.

Sharing ideas and the vision with you of building a better Bar has been motivational. I am deeply honored that 32 of the 37 Lawyer-Legislators of the Georgia General Assembly, including the Speaker of the House, the Chairman of the House Civil Judiciary Committee, the Chairman of the House Non-Civil Judiciary Committee, the House Majority Whip and the House Minority Leader, endorsed my candidacy. These are Legislators from both sides of the aisle, who deal with both civil and non-civil issues, who, in their words, know me as an “effective advocate who brings much-needed credibility to discussions under the Gold Dome.” I have their respect, which is absolutely necessary if the State Bar is going to have a seat at the table when the Georgia Legislature is considering legislation that affects our clients and our profession. I will use that respect and standing on behalf of the State Bar if elected Secretary.

Elect Robin Frazer Clark Secretary, State Bar of Georgia

April 6, 2010 | Robin Frazer Clark

Dear Friends:

I have traveled the four corners of the State of Georgia during this campaign for Secretary of the State Bar of Georgia, from Bartow County to Dougherty County, from the Blue Ridge Circuit to the Stone Mountain Circuit, and from Macon to Savannah, I have grown ever more proud of our honorable profession and what you do to help the citizens of Georgia every day. I have attended over 30 bar association meetings and events and have shaken the hands

of literally thousands of you in an effort to get to know you, to learn more about your practices and to understand your concerns about the State Bar of Georgia. In fact, you may view many photographs from those campaign stops at my Facebook Group “Lawyers for Robin Frazer Clark for Secretary of the State Bar of Georgia” at

Bullets Shot at Fulton County Courthouse Window

March 26, 2010 | Robin Frazer Clark

As a plaintiff’s personal injury trial lawyer in Atlanta who frequents the Fulton County Courthouse, the story below scares me. Bullets were shot through one window of the 8th floor of the Fulton County Courthouse. This is the floor that houses the Fulton County Sheriff’s Department and has the walkover to the old Fulton County Superior Court, the same walkover that Brian Nichols used for his escape five years ago. Scary stuff!

Window apparently shot out at Fulton courthouse

ShareThisPrint E-mail By Mike Morris

Caps on Damages in Georgia Held Unconstitutional

March 22, 2010 | Robin Frazer Clark

It is with great pride and joy that I announce that the Georgia Supreme Court today held caps on non-economic damages in medical malpractice cases unconstitutional as a violation of a citizen’s 7th Amendment right to a jury trial. The ruling was in Atlanta Oculoplastic Surgery, P.C. v. Nestlehutt, published today. The Georgia Supreme Court held unequivocally that nothing trumps a person’s 7th Amendment right to a jury trial, including the Legislature’s attempt to cap damages.

This is a great victory for Everyday Georgians who have been or may become the victim of medical malpractice or medical carelessness. Contrary to the Medical Association of Georgia’s spin on this, the caps law did NOT decrease doctors’ medical malpractice premiums. In the three years between 2002-2005, malpractice premiums increased 150%. In the five years since the caps law was enacted, premiums have gone down only 7%, hardly the panacea physicians were looking for and hardly the cure-all that MAG claims it was.

So Everyday Georgians can rest easy tonight knowing the Georgia Supreme Court would not stand idly by and allow their rights to be trampeled. Many thanks to the Nestlehutts, who showed remarkable courage through this ordeal, and to their attorneys, Adam Malone and Mike Terry.