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Posted On: June 30, 2009

Atlanta City Traffic Court Saga Continues for an Atlanta Lawyer

In a recent post, we discussed Georgia pedestrian rights as they pertained to a case involving my clients who got run over by a car in Atlanta.Today was the second time this month I was lucky enough to end up on their behalf in the City of Atlanta Traffic Court on Garnett Street.

Let me start by saying they did a nice job remodeling the place and the airport style arrival/departure screens are helpful to tell you which courtroom you are in. Come to think of it, now that they make you take off your belt and shoes at security it feels just like an airport. When I asked why the belts come off, the security guard replied "razors." Ahh, so that is what it has come to. Keep in mind this is a misdemeanor level City of Atlanta Court. If there are Gangstas here, it is because they got a speeding ticket. What are they going to shank you as you plea nolo to a speeding ticket?

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Posted In: Atlanta Car Accidents

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Posted On: June 27, 2009

Tragic Metro Train Crash in Maryland Was Preventable According to Lawyers

I am attending a legal marketing conference outside of Washington D.C. this week, and I am sitting with two Maryland Injury attorneys that specialize in mass transit collisions. They have tackled the Washington D.C. Metro system on numerous occasions, and we got to talking about how preventable this tragedy was. I grew up in Alexandria Virginia riding the Metro and was deeply disturbed by how unnecessary this Metro train crash was.

Although the the National Transportation Safety Board is only in the early phases of the investigation, several points are becoming clear:
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1) The Metro Fail-Safe system is likely responsible for the crash. This is mind boggling given that triple redundancy is supposed to be built into these systems.

2) This is not the first time that the Metro Fail-Safe system has failed; this is just the most severe of the situations. These Maryland Metro crash lawyers have litigated similar failure cases in the past.

3) These prior Metro safety failures in Maryland have not been widely reported for obvious reasons.

There have been many nights that I have spoken with neighbors trying to explain the watchdog role that Atlanta injury lawyers play in uncovering carelessness, failures to maintain and sheer laziness. The civil justice system provides an watchful eye on malfeasance and is self-funded.

Taken as a whole, the Maryland Metro crash is a lesson in poor oversight. The Washington and Maryland Metro Train system is a common carrier of people and accordingly is held to a higher standard of care. While the NTSB will do their job, it is clear that even more details will come to light in the inevitable civil litigation to come. Professional attorneys with mass transit litigation experience will have access to records and experts above and beyond those produced by the government. The whole story behind this tragedy may not be known for months, but the transit authority should be hanging their heads knowing that it could have been prevented.

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Posted On: June 26, 2009

If You Sustain a Broken Leg in a Car Accident in Georgia, What is it Worth?

Many of my clients initially contact me for expert advice on how much their Georgia car accident case is worth. A common question is "how much is my broken leg case worth in Georgia?" The answer to that question is that you are approaching this from the wrong direction. Injury cases are not interchangeable commodities and each person injured in a car accident in Georgia is different. As an Atlanta car accident attorney, I field this question all time and my clients want to know; why?

First understand that there is nothing inherently wrong with asking the question. My clients are conservative and responsible people. They are fathers and mothers, grandparents and children and they all live together in the community. There is no reason to be embarrassed about asking this question. My clients are not looking for handouts; they are turning to the justice system the founding fathers put into place to balance the scales. Carelessness has consequences and for over 225 years, our courts and the tort system have balanced out the harms caused by carelessness. Serious car accident injuries and wrongful death cases do not receive large jury verdicts because someone fooled them. Verdicts come from the wisdom of our community.
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To help clients that have questions about the fair value of their cases, I drafted a new page that gets into some of the details of particular upper and lower leg injuries on my site. There you will find answers to the question "how much is my broken leg worth in Georgia." For more general questions about how much an Atlanta car accident case is worth be sure to read that page in the practice areas as well.

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Posted In: Broken Bones in Georgia

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Posted On: June 11, 2009

How to Get Your Criminal History Expunged in Georgia

I share space with a private equity banker here in Atlanta, Georgia and like many folks, he thinks all lawyers practice all types of law. Despite me having told him several times that I am a Georgia tractor trailer accident lawyer, he nevertheless asked me how to get an arrest expunged from his Georgia record.

It seems that when he was a younger man, he jokingly picked up a painting at the Braves clubhouse in Fulton County Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia, walked three feet and set it down. He and his friend had a good laugh and promptly forgot about it. Two hours later, a police officer pointed him out in the clubhouse and said "he tried to steal a painting!" Needless to say, the matter was dropped but it still hangs around on his GCIC report. Every time he prepares to close a private equity deal and they check his background, he has to explain the entire faisco. So, how do you remove it? Even the best lawyer in Atlanta would be hard pressed to get this right so I did a little research for my readers.

I drafted a new page on my Atlanta car accident lawyer website to lay out step by step instructions on how to get an arrest expunged from your criminal record in Georgia so please feel free to check it out. Remember as an Atlanta injury attorney, this is not my area of expertise, but the statutes are clear cut. We should know the outcome of my friend's appeal shortly.

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Posted In: Georgia Law

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Posted On: June 8, 2009

ECM Data From Tractor Trailers Can Prove Critical in Determining the Cause of Georgia Tractor Trailer Crashes

As a Georgia trucking attorney, I receive telephone calls from across the country from families that have been the victims of tractor trailer crashes and the most common request is for information on how the crash happened. In cases involving high speed collisions, the wreckage can be inscrutable to the common eye and the family's grief is compounded by their inability to understand how the crash could have occurred. Below is an image of some of the data that can be downloaded from the ECM unit.
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I recently updated the Georgia tractor trailer crash page to include more specific information about what kind of information can be downloaded from the ECM (electronic control module) Commonly known as a "black box", these electronic components help law enforcement and private attorneys to accurately reconstruct how fatal trucking collisions occur.

The amount of information available after an Atlanta trucking crash varies with year make and model. As an Atlanta injury attorney, I want you to have the most information possible so that when you interview counsel you go in as an educated consumer. The best lawyers in Atlanta will all tell you that an educated, well prepare client is the best client.

Copyright © 2009 by Christopher M. Simon, All Rights Reserved


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Posted In: Georgia Trucking Accidents

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Posted On: June 5, 2009

Georgia Uninsured Motorist Coverage Can Stack after Your Policy Renews

With the new Georgia Uninsured Underinsured Motorist Insurance statute allowing Uninsured Motorist Coverages to be stacked, there has been some confusion in the legal community as to what Georgia Uninsured Motorist coverages are available for collisions occurring after January 1, 2009. Under the statute, the insurance companies are obligated to send out renewal notices 45 days prior to renewal offering the "added on" type coverage that stacks.

Therefore, unless your policy has renewed in 2009, it is unlikely that you have the "added on" type of Georgia Uninsured Motorist coverage that will allow you to stack your Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist coverage that will stack on top of the at fault party's coverage. In a recent case for a client injured in a car accident in Atlanta, they had already renewed their policy and we were able to stack the at fault driver's $25,000.00 coverage with our client's $25,000.00 in Underinsured Motorist coverage to generate a $50,000.00 recovery. If you have serious injury that has a value above the at fault driver's Georgia insurance limits, be sure to call an Atlanta injury attorney. O.C.G.A. 33-7-11

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Posted In: Georgia Uninsured Motorist Law

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