Atlanta Injury Lawyer Blog

“Isn’t That a Jury Question?” U. S. Supreme Court Bores Down to the Heart of the Matter in United States v. Tsarnaev

October 13, 2021 | Robin Frazer Clark

“Isn’t that a jury question?” As a trial lawyer who has tried 75 jury trials in Georgia, that is my default position, i.e., a jury should decide each issue of fact. Not a trial judge and certainly not an appellate court. Juries perform this task of finding facts every day, in every courtroom in the United States. It’s what juries do…and it’s the very foundation our system of Justice is built upon.

Yet, too often, we see trial judges, and then even appellate judges, invade the province of the jury and decide the case for herself/himself. This, plain and simply, is not allowed. The Standard of Review of a denial of a motion for summary judgment, for example, requires [an appellate] Court to “view the evidence, and all reasonable conclusions and inferences drawn from it, in the light most favorable to the nonmovant. And at the summary-judgment stage, we do not resolve disputed facts, reconcile the issues, weigh the evidence, or determine its credibility, as those matters must be submitted to a jury for resolution.” Orr v. SSC Atlanta Operating Co., 860 S.E.2d 217, 222 (Ga. Ct. App. 2021), reconsideration denied (July 14, 2021). It really can’t be any plainer than that.

The United States Supreme Court, the highest appellate Court in the country, rarely, if ever, even discusses issues of fact, much less decides them. You can imagine my surprise, then, when in today’s oral argument in United States v. Tsarnaev I heard Justice Sotomayor ask exactly that question: “Isn’t that for a jury to decide?” Whoa! Wait a minute! What just happened?! A Supreme Court Justice never asks a question like that, does she? And yet I heard it with my own two ears! Interesting.

Injured on a Georgia Construction Site?

October 11, 2021 | Robin Frazer Clark

If a person who is working on a Georgia construction site is injured by some other person’s negligence during the course and scope of their job, the injured person has several options. First, the injured worker would look to the company he works for workers’ compensation. If that employer has more than 3 employees, which is usually the case in construction, that employer is required to have workers’ compensation insurance.

Then, the injured worker may have other causes of action against other companies who were also present at the construction site and whose negligence may have caused the injury. This is why an injured worker should hire a plaintiff’s personal injury lawyer quickly after the injury. A good lawyer will be able to identify these other causes of action, including simple negligence actions against at-fault employees who are employed by a different company than the injured worker’s company, and even possibly products liability or premises liability actions against third parties.

Should You File a Lawsuit?

Waiting On Your Jury Trial? We Can Relate

September 8, 2021 | Robin Frazer Clark

Just when everyone thought the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic was behind us, the Delta variant swept through the country and became the dominant strain in a matter of weeks. Plaintiffs in personal injury cases who thought they would finally get their proper day in court are now facing the prospects of more delays.

Our team knows that nobody is more frustrated than personal injury victims and their families. Justice delayed, as it is often said, is justice denied. When you choose Attorney Robin Clark and the team to take your personal injury case to trial, we will fight for you until the end.

Zoom Mediations—a Worthy Alternative?

Bedrails for College Dorm Residents Should Be Standard in All Dorm Rooms

August 17, 2021 | Robin Frazer Clark

I have been enjoying seeing posts on social media of families taking their college-aged kids to their colleges and universities and helping them move in to their dorm rooms. This is a rite-of-passage for many young people as they begin their college careers and are perhaps living away from their home and their parents for the first time in their lives. The personal injury attorney in me can’t help but notice on the many dorm room photos online of how many of the high bunk beds have bedrails installed versus how many don’t. And this is the problem: no high bunk bed in any college dorm room should be without a bedrail installed. The photograph above makes me happy because it shows a high bunk bed with a bedrail installed. This student will be safe when sleeping in this high bunk bed.

This issue came to light several years ago when Clark Jacobs, then a Georgia Tech student, fell out of his lofted bed in his fraternity house. He fell 7 feet from his bed to the hard floor of his room. He was diagnosed with a fractured skull and a brain bleed which then led to a stroke. Five years and hundreds of hours of therapy later, including in-patient rehabilitation at Shepherd Center, Clark graduated from Georgia Tech in the summer of 2020. I blogged about this incident last year and about a similar incident that happened to a young woman who was a student at Valdosta State University. That woman sued the Georgia Board of Regents and lost her case in the Georgia Court of Appeals. Valdosta State Univ. v. Davis, A20A1036, 2020 WL 4745074 (Ga. Ct. App. Aug. 17, 2020). Her attorneys petitioned the Georgia Supreme Court for Certiorari, but the Supreme Court declined to hear this case earlier this year, which means the Georgia Court of Appeals’ opinion stands.

Following my September 2020 blog on college bedrails, Mariellen Jacobs, Clark Jacobs’s mother, reached out to me to discuss this ongoing problem. Given the fact that she had witnessed her son’s injury and recuperation first hand from an incident that, arguably, never should have happened in the first place, Mariellen Jacobs has become quite an expert on this subject matter. Her son endured a long recovery at Shepherd Center with medical bills totaling over $1 Million dollars. In Georgia, through the work of her foundation, Rail Against the Danger, Ms. Jacobs was able to convince the University System of Georgia (and all 26 state campuses) to become “rails ON” so that at residence hall check-in, every elevated bed has a safety rail in place to prevent injury. You can find information online that indicates that in at least a Georgia dorm room, a bedrail must be installed on the top bunk. You will find this language in the Georgia Tech Housing and Residence Life webpage:

What Does It Mean to File a Wrongful Death Lawsuit in Georgia?

August 9, 2021 | Robin Frazer Clark

A personal injury lawsuit is a legal tool that can be used to obtain damages after someone (the plaintiff) is physically, mentally, or emotionally injured due to the intentional acts or negligence of someone else. If, unfortunately, the personal injury victim dies as a result of someone else’s actions, a family member of the deceased may be entitled to bring a wrongful death lawsuit.

Someone in Georgia is said to have suffered a wrongful death if he or she died due to a crime, negligence, or “property” that has been “defectively manufactured.” The defective property does not have to have been negligently manufactured in order for a wrongful death claim to be brought.

What Kind of Damages Can a Wrongful Death Lawsuit Produce?

3 Ways Your Insurance Company Might Try to Avoid Paying You

July 15, 2021 | Robin Frazer Clark

After a serious car accident–one that involves damage to your car and the other person’s car, not to mention physical injuries–you’re in a precarious position. Between rental cars, medical bills, and lost wages, finances can quickly become a big problem. Insurance companies understand the situation you’re in, and they generally have no hesitation in using that to their advantage.

It’s certainly not fair, but it’s the reality for victims of car accidents who need compensation. Being prepared for various stunts occasionally attempted by auto insurance companies can help you prepare for the upcoming process and protect your claim.

Offering a lowball figure to make the claim go away.

Joshua’s Law and Other New Georgia Laws Go Into Effect on July 1, 2021

June 30, 2021 | Robin Frazer Clark

July 1 always welcomes in the new laws passed by the Legislature in the last Legislative session. Tomorrow Georgia will have several new laws that go into effect, many of which you may not be aware.

The first you should know about is “Joshua’s Law,” codified at O.C.G.A. § 40-5-10. The genesis of this law is the untimely and unnecessary death of Joshua Brown, son of LuGina and Alan Brown back on July 1, 2003. It is ironic that the law in his name goes into effect on the 18th anniversary of Joshua’s death. I had the distinct honor of representing LuGina and Alan in a successful wrongful death lawsuit in Fulton County against the Georgia Department of Transportation. We tried that case to a jury and settled it on the last day of trial. Joshua then was 18 years old at the time of his death. He had been admitted to the Berklee School of Music and wanted to be a musician. I can remember when LuGina testified she talked about visiting Berklee with Joshua and when she saw the campus and all the students walking around she saw “a hundred little Joshuas.” I have never forgotten that moment in trial. It was so moving. Our lawsuit involved the negligent maintenance of the road Joshua was on when he lost control of his truck due to hydroplaning, ran off a steep, unprotected hillside and crashed into a tree. The Browns immediately threw their grief into action by creating “Joshua’s Law” and began lobbying the Georgia General Assembly for passage of the law that would mandate driver education in every high school in Georgia. The Browns were the recipients of the Georgia Trial Lawyers Association’s Courageous Pursuit of Justice Award for their relentless pursuit of justice against the Georgia Department of Transportation and for the creation of the new law “Joshua’s Law.” The substance of the new law is as follows:

Effective: July 1, 2021

Georgia’s Dog Bite Laws, Explained

June 2, 2021 | Robin Frazer Clark

Despite the enormous popularity of dogs—nearly two-thirds of Americans live in a household with one or more domesticated canines—these animals are still capable of inflicting serious injuries. And, unfortunately, dog bites are more common than many people think, as 800,000 people receive medical attention for dog bites each year in the U.S. In addition to bites, dogs can sometimes bump into people and cause falls, which often result in injuries. If you are wondering about the process in Georgia for recovering money after a dog bite or attack, please keep reading to gain some important information.

Three Elements to Prove

Victims of a dog bite or attack in Georgia have to satisfy all three elements of the state’s dog bite statute in order to collect damages. Victims, or a victim’s family, must show that:

Have You Had An Arbitration Clause Forced On You Lately? Probably

May 21, 2021 | Robin Frazer Clark

Have you received something like this lately from any corporation? It is a “forced arbitration” clause in which a corporation unilaterally revokes your right to a jury trial should it cause you harm or damages in any way. This forced arbitration clause is AT & T’s version. Rather than telling you “Hey, Customer, we have taken away your right to trial without your consent,” they say “We have updated your contract terms.” Further, rather than simply telling you that AT & T is taking away your right to a jury trial regarding any dispute you may have with it, AT & T ridiculously states “We have simplified and updated the contract terms….” Then the unilateral notice says:

“we will resolve any disputes by individual arbitration and not by jury trial or class action.

Your continued use of AT & T service tells us you accept and agree to be bound by the Consumer

Minimum Insurance Amounts in Georgia

May 17, 2021 | Robin Frazer Clark

In exchange for being a licensed driver in Georgia, you agree to certain obligations. One of these is to carry a minimum amount of auto liability insurance. Like the majority of states, Georgia is an at-fault state when it comes to paying out after a car accident or covered loss. This means that the driver responsible for the accident is responsible for paying the expenses arising from the collisions.

Georgia law requires drivers to carry:

$25,000 of bodily injury liability per person and $50,000 of bodily injury liability insurance per crash. This means that your insurance will pay up to $50,000 of expenses for bodily injury if multiple people are injured or killed in an accident.