Atlanta Injury Attorney Blog

In the course of handling a lawsuit against an underage driver who was charged with DUI for civil damages stemming from a bad injury, we Googled the Defendant and one of the top hits was his more recent arrest for Minor in Possession. www.Arrestcentral.com and www.Bustedmugshots.com are two examples of sites that cull readily available arrest information and make it very Google friendly.
This can become a huge problem for you, especially if you have a unique name. If you have a common name, a search on you are your city of residence is likely to return hundreds of responses. But, if you are uniquely named and have an arrest record that has been scraped, odds are that a prospective boss or nosey parent will locate the information.

Can they publish that information? Don’t I have privacy rights?

Yes, they can publish any true public information. Yes you have privacy rights, but an arrest record is public and your privacy rights are trumped by the First Amendment rights of the publisher. The same holds true for a newspaper reporting your arrest. So long as they don’t cross the line and say that you are guilty, as they did in the Richard Jewell (Olympic Park Bombing Suspect) case.

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Sandy Springs and Woodstock will start Sunday alcohol sales as early as 12:30 PM on Sunday November 20th but it will take a while longer in Atlanta. The Atlanta City Council passed an ordinance saying that sales will not go into effect until January 1, 2012.

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We get calls all day long from anxious car accident victims with questions ranging from property damage fairness to complex surgical options. Over the last 2 years as health insurance and car insurance regulations have evolved, one thing is clear; there is a dearth of good information out there. Without further ado then I will hit today on the top five mistakes that we see people making after they are injured in a car accident.

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So today I had to go in for an epidural steroid injection to my L5-S1 level due to radiating numbness in my leg and pain for several months. Over the last 15 years as an Atlanta car accident lawyer, I have discussed, analyzed, asked deposition questions and argued about these procedures. Going through with one yourself is quite another experience altogether.

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In a groundbreaking Atlanta car accident case, lawyers have received an unfortunate decision on whether a driver who causes a crash and injury because of cell phone use can be sued for punitive damages.The Georgia Court of Appeals ruled in Lindsey v. Clinch County Glass Inc. No A11A1313 that where a driver caused a car accident while talking on a cell phone, the injured party cannot pursue a claim for punitive damages.

Georgia law allows a party to sue for punitive damages when there is a “pattern or police of dangerous driving, such as excessive speeding or driving under the influence.” But the Court stopped short of finding that talking on a cell phone and causing a crash was anything more than a violation of the rules of the road. The decision did not bar a car accident victim from seeking punitive damages in cases where the at fault driver was texting and driving although no case has specifically said that texting enables a punitive damages claim either.

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When clients meet with us after a car accident in Atlanta and they disclose that they received their emergency room care at North Fulton Regional or Atlanta Medical Center and they do not have health insurance, we know going in that the bill is going to be staggering. Back in 2009, the Atlanta Journal Constitution ran a study on the markup hospitals apply to cost.

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We handle between 10-15 cases at any given time involving people hurt by drunk drivers and one of the frequent questions we hear relates to punitive damages and how multiple convictions can affect the outcome.As we have discussed in our article on how to prosecute car accidents caused by drunk drivers in Georgia, when an injury is caused by a drunk driver, Georgia law allows us to seek punitive or “punishment” damages against the driver and their insurance company. There are some situations where certain insurance companies do not provide coverage for punitive damages, but all of the front line insurers including Allstate, State Farm, Progressive, Liberty Mutual and USAA are obligated on their liability policies to pay for punitives against their insured.

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We just completed our most recent instructional video on steps to take after you are involved in a car accident in Georgia. Some of these action items are intuitive but others will surprise you.

So once again I got summoned for jury duty in Fulton County, the massive County that includes the City of Atlanta. Many people are apprehensive about jury duty so I thought we would lay out the basics of what to expect. Can you get out of jury duty? Yes for the day they summon you , but eventually you will have to serve on another date.

How do i get out of jury service? If you care for a child 6 or under, are doctors orders sick or over 70, you can get out of it. If you have some pressing engagement,you can call into the Court and geta reset date often several months down the road.

The night before, call the court to verify that your group is being called for service.

In the first few hours after a car accident in Georgia, it is normal to be confused and anxious. For people facing injuries, they can spend hours in the emergency worrying over whether the bill will be paid. If the crash was serious, drivers often don’t get the contact information for the other driver’s insurance company. Even if you are just dealing with how to get your car fixed, the process can be daunting. There is not a one-size-fits-all approach to dealing with car accidents so let’s take it step by step.

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