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When a client is injured in a crash where the other driver leaves the scene, the fleeing driver is liable for punitive damages when they can be identified. We see examples of egregious roadway behavior on a regular basis, and the incidence of Georgia drivers fleeing the scene is on the rise.

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When a driver fails to stop for a collision to render assistance to a person that has been injured, the injured person’s lawyer can explain how to recover punitive damages and get a jury charge on negligence per se for those actions. Cheevers v. Clark 214 Ga.App. 866 (1994).

Perhaps you have read the story of the family in New York that has a filed an $83 million dollar lawsuit against the makers of Red Bull for the death of a 30 year old father on a basketball court. Being a lawyer who regularly files these cases in legitimate cases, I was curious as to what the evidence is. Unfortunately, the case appears to be a total farce and the lawyer will once again do damage to the my profession.

via GIPHY

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On Monday we mediated a fascinating case for a client to a successful conclusion. I cannot get into the details because the other half of the case is still to be litigated but the case brought up some novel issues that I thought I would share.

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Causation is one of the four elements that must be proven in an injury case in order to get a judgment in an injury case in Georgia. Insurance defense lawyers will often attack the plaintiff’s ability to prove that the accident caused the specific injury.

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State Supreme Court The state of Georgia’s Highest Appellate Court

Court of Appeals: The intermediate court of Appeals

Superior Court: These courts exist in each county in Georgia and have the ability to hear felony criminal cases, divorce and family law cases and have no jursidictional limits. You can sue for as much as you want to in Superior Court

So you have a car accident in Georgia and three days later the police report comes out. It does not take 5 minutes for the runners to start calling the person who was not ticketed trying to hustle them into a chiropractic clinic or to a shady lawyer.

This practice has always existed but anecdotally it appears to to have exploded in the last few years. Three prospective clients called this week; all of them having been approached by runners.

So I am calling them out. Realize that these names may be fake and may be similar to legitimate businesses. How do you know if the people calling you are legit? If they are calling you within 30 days of the crash and you did not ask them to, they are dirt bags, plain and simple. Stay away because it won’t end well.

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We are representing the Syed family for a tragic crash that also took the life of Caroline Addlesburger and her mother Tracy Bieler on August 7, 2013. In a sadly familiar series of events, Mrs. Bieler was driving down a steep hill on a wet road with unsafe tires when she lost control and crossed in the Syed’s lane and hit them head on. Our client’s daughter broke her leg and underwent an ORIF (Open reduction internal fixation) procedure to put a rod into the femur. A tragic combination of speed, bad judgment and poor maintenance led to the loss of life.

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Some of you may have heard about Kambiz Michael Doran, the man in Spring Texas who is facing criminal prosecution for the death of several drivers at the hands of a drunk driver as a result of buying her drinks while hitting on her. Is criminal and civil liability for buying a lady drinks what we want as a society?

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Some of you noticed the Progressive Insurance ads that started in 2008 for their Snapshot program which tracks driver behavior and rewards safe driving practices with lower rates. Know as “telematics”, the collection of objective driver behavior data is now spreading with State Farm and Allstate now rolling out a similar systems. Progressive claims that it is in licensing discussions with 24 other insurers. see Wall Street Journal Article: “State Farm is There as You Drive”

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The final chapter in the sad story of the wrongful death of Jessica Lester has been written and the family’s lawyer has been suspended from the practice of law for 5 years and fined over $540,000 dollars for telling the widower to delete a Facebook page. Ridiculous. For a survey of the pleadings check out www.legaldocs.com

The story began in 2007 when a cement truck that was speeding on a curvy Piedmont road near Monticello outside of Charlottesville, Virginia took a curve too fast and tipped over killing the 23 year old Lester and injuring her husband as they drove to work. She lived for 8 days before dying of the skull fractures. The Allied driver was charged and plead guilty to Manslaughter. He was sentenced to two years and only served 30 days in jail.

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