Recent Blog Posts in 2010 |
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| August 22, 2010 |
| Negligent Apartment Security Claims in Georgia |
| Posted By Ted Spaulding |
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As an Atlanta personal injury lawyer, I have been on the plaintiff and defense side of premises liability cases arising out of everything from rape to wrongful death cases based on failures of apartment complexes to have adequate security measures in place to protect their tenants. These cases almost always involve very tragic circumstances, including home invasions, shootings, rapes and other assaults on tenants.
In these cases, the burden of proof is much higher and thus more difficult to overcome as a plaintiff than in other personal injury cases. This is because the plaintiff must prove that the apartment complex knew or should have known that the incident that occurred was likely to happen to one or more of its tenants before it occurred to plaintiff and had it taken simple security measures it would have likely prevented the incident from occurring. While it is difficult to meet this standard, it is not impossible and is often times met in severe cases. There are a few points to think about in trying to gather evidence to support a premises liability claim based on negligent security:
•Is the area around the apartment complex a high crime area. You want to look for similar violent crimes occurring in the area, including in other apartment complexes. Requesting crime reports from the local police department is vital.
•Have violent crimes occurred in the apartment complex in the past, and importantly, similar violent crimes to the one at issue. Again, getting police reports for the past several years for the apartment complex itself is important as well as reports of crimes to management at the complex that may not have been reported to the police.
•If there was an access gate, was it working at the time the intruder came into the complex? Had it been broker for some time? Did management know of the broken access gate before the incident?
•Was the victim targeted by the perpetrator for personal reasons or was it a random crime of opportunity that could have been prevented if the complex had taken simple security measures.
Much of the initial work will be done by the police and you do not want to interfere with the their investigation at the early stages. You have two years in which to file suit or forever lose your right to pursue the complex. This gives you and your family time to grieve, allow the police to pursue their investigation and still allow you and your family time to contemplate pursuing a cause of action against the complex.
If you or a loved one have been the victim of a violent crime and believe the apartment complex is at fault for failing to adequate protect its tenants, give our Atlanta premises liability lawyers a call for a free consultation at (770) 887-3162. |
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| July 22, 2010 |
| Who Pays My Medical Bills? |
| Posted By Ted Spaulding |
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| The most often question I hear from clients at the beginning of their case is who pays my medical expenses while my case is pending. I often then hear that the client told the hospital just to bill the at-fault party directly. Unfortunately, the at-fault party will not, and even more importantly, is not required to pay your medical bills until you are ready to resolve the case once and for all. Therefore, in order to pursue your claim you need to seek and have your treatment paid for by you until your case is resolved.
That being the case, what are you supposed to do? Whatever you do, you need to get the proper treatment immediately and there are several ways you can do it:
1. If you have health insurance, have it pay for your medical costs. You will likely have to reimburse the insurance company for a portion of the benefits it provides on your behalf out of your settlement or verdict but that is much better than going without needed treatment. In this scenario, your health insurance will not pay the full cost of the treatment as it will have a contract with the provider reducing the cost of the treatment. For instance, a procedure that costs $1,000.00 will likely only cost the health insurance company $300.00. It is much better to have to reimburse the health insurance company $300 at the end of your case then pay $1,000.00 directly out of your pocket to the treatment needed. The good news is we have been very successful negotiating reimbursement of medical benefits with clients' health insurance company so little to nothing is needed out of your settlement or verdict to reimburse them.
2.If you do not have health insurance, the next best option is to find a doctor who will treat you on a lien or we can get you in touch with several companies we work with that will cover your expenses on a lien (they will pay the doctor and wait to be paid by you out of the settlement or verdict). Again, the benefit here is you get the treatment you need now without having to pay anything out of pocket but the difference from health insurance is that you will owe the full amount of the treatment out of your settlement or verdict.
3.If you were injured in an auto accident, you likely have some level of medical payment coverage. This covers you for medical expenses up to the maximum policy limit. The problem here is that most folks only have $1,000.00 of med pay coverage. The lucky few have $10,000.00 or even $25,000.00, but even if you are likely enough to have a lot of med pay coverage it often will not cover all of your medical costs, so you are left trying number 1 or 2, above, or seeking other sources to help you with your bills.
Our Atlanta personal injury lawyers will work with you from the beginning of our representation of you to get you set up with the most appropriate medical provider for your injuries and under one or more of the above options so your medical bills are covered while you worry about getting better. |
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| July 14, 2010 |
| Atlanta injury lawyer answers the question--How Long Does It Take For A Case To Settle or Get To Trial? |
| Posted By Ted Spaulding |
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In Georgia personal injury cases, the nature and duration of the medical care determines how long it takes to resolve your case. This article will provide you with an idea of how long your personal injury case (car accident, tractor trailer/truck accident, wrongful death) will take to resolve either through settlement before or after suit is filed or through trial to a jury of your peers. Keep in mind that these are just general timelines as each case involves different injuries, treatment modalities, and factual issues that affect how long it takes to resolve a personal injury case.
While approximately 98-99% of all Georgia personal injury claims settle and approximately 85-90% of cases in litigation settle short of trial, we have seen a trend recently of insurance companies trying cases more and more often. Below is the general timeline that provides you with an outline of the process and what you can expect each step of the way:
Step 1: Medical Care
During this step, you will meet with the attorney in person to go over the facts of the case, your injuries to-date, any treatment already received, medical providers you have already seen, and other particulars discussed below. During this step, we will do the following
- Send a letter of representation to the at-fault party, his/her or its insurer, if known, to notify them of your claim, our representation, to request insurance policy coverage information and all photographs/statements obtained by them regarding the incident;
- Send a letter of representation to your insurance company if your case is a car/truck accident to get your UM coverage information;
- Obtain the accident report or incident report;
- Preserve any critical evidence like 911 calls, physical evidence, dash cam images, photographs, statements etc.;
- Interview witnesses;
- Help you coordinate your medical treatment either by helping you find the right provider to help you with your injuries or just help you coordinate payment of bills through health insurance or lien based treatment;
This step is usually the longest short of the litigation phase because a lot of time is needed for you to get the treatment you need so we know exactly what injuries you suffered, what treatment is necessary, how much that treatment has cost, and what if any long term impairments will you have---all important elements for determining what the jury value of your is.
Step 2: Drafting of Settlement Demand
Once your medical care is over, our at least the full course of treatment is known, then we can request all of your medical records and bills from your medical providers. It usually takes 30-60 days to get records back from a provider after the request is made and you should anticipate it will take around a week for us to complete your settlement demand package.
Once the demand package is sent out to the insurance company it will take 30 days to receive a response. Once the initial response is received, negotiations will begin in earnest. We keep you notified of progress in the negotiations. If the insurance company makes a reasonable offer, and it is acceptable to you after our advise on it, we will send a confirmation letter. It will take a month or so before your settlement proceeds have been received and are ready to be given to you.
You may be wondering who gets to decide whether the case settles. The answer is YOU. We will provide our advise on what the jury value of your case is and what is or is not a good settlement offer is given the dynamics of your case based on our experience, but it is ultimately your case. If you decide not to or even to take an offer that we advise against, that is your right because it is always your case, your pain and suffering, and your family. Only you and your family can make the ultimate decision whether to settle or not.
Step 3: Litigation
If it is necessary to file suit to unlock the true value of your case and you agree, then it will take around two weeks to prepare the lawsuit. The lawsuit does not begin until the defendant has been personally served. Service is when the sheriff or an appointed server actually hands a copy of the lawsuit to the defendant or an adult they live with. Keep in mind you have to sue the actual defendant not his or her insurance companey.
Once the lawsuit is served, the Defendant has 30 days within which to answer. If they fail to and don’t fix it within another 15 days, they are in default and admit most everything in the lawsuit, which makes your case easier. This is very unlikely to happen and instead within the first 30 days an Answer is filed.
Step 4: Discovery
Once the Answer is filed, the discovery clock starts ticking. Discovery lasts six months in Georgia unless it is extended by consent of all parties and the Court. The point of discovery for the defendant is to learn everything about your case---facts of incident, your injuries, treatment, and damages. For you the point of discovery is to learn what if any defenses the defendant has to your case and collect valuable evidence that will us win your case at trial.
The first step is written discovery is answered. This usually takes the first 2-3 months of discovery. After that you can expect the defendant will want to take your depsotion, which is a sworn statement from you with a court reporter present. Depositions usually last for 3-4 hours, depending on the situation, and almost nothing about you and your case is off limits. For you the next step if for us to take the deposition of the defendant and any other necessary witnesses and prepare medical evidence and exhibits. It is not abnormal to have discovery drag on for 9-10 months.
Step 5: Trial
After discovery is over and the next step in the case is to try the case or settle, often mediation is requested. Often times it is at this point that cases get resolved before trial.
If the case does not settle at mediation, trial is the only option. In Georgia courts the time to get to a jury trial can vary from around 6 months to 2 years, depending on what court the case is in and even what judge within that court has the case.
Typical trials in personal injury cases last around 2-4 days depending on the number of witnesses and evidence that needs to be presented to win your case.
If you are in need of an experienced personal injury lawyer in Atlanta, please feel free to fill out our "Contact Us" form or call us today at (770) 887-3162 to talk today one of our Atlanta car accident lawyers, Atlanta truck accident attorneys, Atlanta wrongful death lawyers, or other Atlanta personal injury lawyer.
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| July 09, 2010 |
| Is It Ok To Provide A Recorded Statement To The Insurance Company? |
| Posted By Ted Spaulding |
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Is It Ok To Provide A Recorded Statement To The Insurance Company?
It is a standard question you will hear immediately upon contact from the at-fault parties auto insurance company or corporate home office--"We would like you to give a recorded statement" after a car accident or personal injury such as a premises liability claim. The car accident adjuster will make contact with you in very short order after the crash and explain that it is standard procedure for them to need two very simply things: 1) a recorded statement regarding what happened and 2) a medical release so they can collect your medical records and bills. Seems like very reasonable requests and the insurance company is being helpful to you, right? Wrong.
To be clear, understand that there is no requirement much less a legal duty under Georgia law to provide a recorded statement to the at-fault party's insurance company. The insurance company is only asking in the hopes of helping themselves defend against your personal injury claim later. That is why often times immediately after the car wreck, you will receive and initial letter from the adjuster introducing himself or herself and stating that they will close their file if you do not make contact and provide a statement and fill out the medical release form sent along with the letter. You can ignore this letter all together because all that matters is that you do not wait to pursue your case past Georgia's Statute of Limitations (2 yrs.) and the file can be reopened at any time within that period by the adjuster. You may and should totally ignore these tactics by Georgia car insurance companies, because they are just that, tactics to protect the insurance company, not you!
Why shouldn't I give a statement? After all, I have nothing to hide? While it is true you have nothing to hide, the answer is that the adjusters are trained in how to get admissions out of you without you even knowing that you are helping them defend against an otherwise defenseless case with trick or open-ended questions. They may try to get you to admit that you did not do anything to avoid the collision, even if there was nothing you could have done or trick you into admitting something that was not true such as how fast you were going at the time, how far away their driver was from you before the collision, or what you did or did not see at the time. Adjusters are trained to conduct these interviews and to secure testimony that makes it less likely that their driver is to blame or simply corners you in to that testimony later in the case when it becomes important.
You may now be thinking, well that makes sense but is not the medical release request at least a fair request? Wrong, again. Remember, insurance companies do not do anything to protect your interests. Insurance companies in Georgia will use an executed medical release to collect every medical record for all past treatment to help begin to build a defense to your injury claim that you suffered from pre-existing conditions that explain why you are injured not the crash itself. To top it all off, the insurance company will not even provide you with copies of what they have collected on you. Never provide a medical release to the insurance company. It can only hurt you. The insurance company has no legal right to require it. You are the only who should be providing the insurance company with your medical records and billing statements for the treatment received since the injury in question, only. For this reason and many others, if you have a serious injury, hire an Atlanta Personal Injury Attorney with experience dealing with insurance companies and corporate home offices before you take do something that hurts your claim.
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| July 09, 2010 |
| Is It Ok To Provide A Recorded Statement To The Insurance Company? |
| Posted By Ted Spaulding |
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Is It Ok To Provide A Recorded Statement To The Insurance Company?
It is a standard question you will hear immediately upon contact from the at-fault parties auto insurance company or corporate home office--"We would like you to give a recorded statement" after a car accident or personal injury such as a premises liability claim. The car accident adjuster will make contact with you in very short order after the crash and explain that it is standard procedure for them to need two very simply things: 1) a recorded statement regarding what happened and 2) a medical release so they can collect your medical records and bills. Seems like very reasonable requests and the insurance company is being helpful to you, right? Wrong.
To be clear, understand that there is no requirement much less a legal duty under Georgia law to provide a recorded statement to the at-fault party's insurance company. The insurance company is only asking in the hopes of helping themselves defend against your personal injury claim later. That is why often times immediately after the car wreck, you will receive and initial letter from the adjuster introducing himself or herself and stating that they will close their file if you do not make contact and provide a statement and fill out the medical release form sent along with the letter. You can ignore this letter all together because all that matters is that you do not wait to pursue your case past Georgia's Statute of Limitations (2 yrs.) and the file can be reopened at any time within that period by the adjuster. You may and should totally ignore these tactics by Georgia car insurance companies, because they are just that, tactics to protect the insurance company, not you!
Why shouldn't I give a statement? After all, I have nothing to hide? While it is true you have nothing to hide, the answer is that the adjusters are trained in how to get admissions out of you without you even knowing that you are helping them defend against an otherwise defenseless case with trick or open-ended questions. They may try to get you to admit that you did not do anything to avoid the collision, even if there was nothing you could have done or trick you into admitting something that was not true such as how fast you were going at the time, how far away their driver was from you before the collision, or what you did or did not see at the time. Adjusters are trained to conduct these interviews and to secure testimony that makes it less likely that their driver is to blame or simply corners you in to that testimony later in the case when it becomes important.
You may now be thinking, well that makes sense but is not the medical release request at least a fair request? Wrong, again. Remember, insurance companies do not do anything to protect your interests. Insurance companies in Georgia will use an executed medical release to collect every medical record for all past treatment to help begin to build a defense to your injury claim that you suffered from pre-existing conditions that explain why you are injured not the crash itself. To top it all off, the insurance company will not even provide you with copies of what they have collected on you. Never provide a medical release to the insurance company. It can only hurt you. The insurance company has no legal right to require it. You are the only who should be providing the insurance company with your medical records and billing statements for the treatment received since the injury in question, only. For this reason and many others, if you have a serious injury, hire an Atlanta Personal Injury Attorney with experience dealing with insurance companies and corporate home offices before you take do something that hurts your claim.
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| June 22, 2010 |
| Atlanta Auto Accident Attorney Discusses Uninsured/Underinsured Auto Insurance |
| Posted By Ted Spaulding |
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As an Atlanta, Georgia auto accident attorney, I too often have clients involved in car accidents with an at-fault driver who only has minimum liability coverage ($25,000.00 in the State of Georgia) and want to know if there is any other coverage available to cover their claim. The short answer is most likely yes. It is called UM coverage.
UM coverage differs from liability coverage, which only protects your assets and provides payments for a person who sustained damages in an accident that was your fault. Uninsured motorist coverage protects you by providing coverage to you in the event that a person who causes an accident in which you sustain damage is either uninsured or underinsured. Your UM coverage limits are shown separately on your insurance card.
The hard part is determining whether your UM coverage will apply to cover you for your injuries and if so, to what extend. It use to be an easier question to answer because there was only one type of UM coverage available to Georgia auto insureds---Reduced Coverage UM. Reduced coverage UM limits will provide you coverage for the difference between the coverage the at-fault party has and the amount of coverage you purchase. For example, if the at-fault party has $25,000.00 in coverage and you have $50,000.00 of UM coverage, the at-fault party's insurance with pay you its limits of $25,000.00 and then your insurance company will pay you $25,000.00, for a total of $50,000.00 all together for your claim. Likewise, if there is $25,000.00 coverage under both the at-fault insurance and your UM coverage, your UM coverage will not apply since there is no difference between what the at-fault party has and your UM limit.
The recently added UM coverage product required to be offered to insurance customers is what is called "Add-on coverage." Under this new coverage, the UM limit provides additional coverage to you up to the limits of coverage you purchase. Using the same number from above: if the at fault driver had minimum coverage of only $25,000.00 and you had $50,000.00 of add-on uninsured motorist coverage, you could receive the $25,000.00 from the at-fault insurance company and $50,000.00 from your own insurance company for a total of $75,000.00. If both of you have $25,000.00 of coverage, no longer will your UM coverage not apply. You could receive $50,000.00 total in this scenario with add-on UM.
It is important to note that in order to get Add-on coverage, you must specifically purchase it from your insurance agent for a higher premium. The passage of the new law in 2008 allowing for such coverage in Georgia does not mean it is automatic.
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| March 14, 2010 |
| Back Injuries Such As Herniated and Bulging Discs May Soon Be Treated With Stem Cells |
| Posted By Ted Spaulding |
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| As a personal injury attorney in Atlanta, I have represented many injury victims suffering from herniated or bulging disc injuries often caused by auto accidents. These injuries often cause radiating pain into the lower extremities, numbness, and tingling with associated mobility limitations, all caused by the injured disc pressing on nerves.
For most of my clients, the only real option to treat the injury is surgery involving the use of plates and screws to fuse the discs together. While relieving most of the pain, numbness and tingling, this current method to deal with these injuries leaves the patient with varying degrees of permanent mobility loss and residual pain.
Currently, preclinical trials are underway using adult stem cells to treat disc disease in Australia. While far from arriving in the U.S., this treatment, if practical, could be an answer for millions of people suffering from injured disc problems.
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| February 20, 2010 |
| Extension of Time to File Lawsuit in Georgia Auto Accident Cases |
| Posted By Ted Spaulding |
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| While it is never advisable to procrastinate in filing suit in an auto accident case, for those who may have thought they lost the right to file suit for injuries caused by another in an car accident now have the potential to still file suit.
O.C.G.A. 9-3-99 says that the statute of limitations for any tort action a victim of a crime brings against the perpetrator is tolled from the date of the alleged crime until the prosecution of the crime becomes final or is dismissed, as long as the ultimate time of delay does not exceed six years from the date of the alleged crime.
The question that was unresolved by the courts until recently was whether this statute applied to violations of the Uniform Rule of the Road and thus would extend the time a plaintiff in a civil auto accident lawsuit could file suit after the usual two year statute of limitation period if the defendant had not resolved his traffic violation(s).
The Georgia Supreme Court yes. It held:
"The plain language of O.C.G.A 9-3-99 would encompass a violation of
a Uniform Rule of the Road. To impose a more stringent definition of 'crime'
within the context of the statute would render superfluous its language that the statute of limitations is tolled from the date of the alleged crime or the act giving rise to such action in tort until the prosecution or other termination of such crime or act."
Thus, now it is clear that the two year statute of limitation on car accident lawsuits will not begin to run until the traffic charge(s) arising out of the auto accident is disposed of either through payment of the ticket, trial or dismissal of the charges. Often times, traffic charges can languish in traffic court for years before they are finally dealt with. However, the majority of time, defendants merely pay the ticket within 30 days of the accident so be careful with this new ruling.
Again, I never advise my personal injury clients involved in a car accident to wait to file suit because doing so has potential ramifications. Evidence becomes harder to collect. Witnesses become harder to find years removed from the accident and their memories of the details of the accident fade.
When it is clear that the injury is catastrophic, I am inclined to file suit more promptly and move aggressively to complete necessary investigations and discovery. However, when people have neglected to pursue their injury claims past the typical two year deadline to do so from the date of the accident, this ruling can allow us to still pursue their legal rights that otherwise would have been lost.
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| January 24, 2010 |
| Causes Of Auto Accidents Reveal Telling Information On Driver Error Not Speed As Leading Cause |
| Posted By Ted Spaulding |
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| As an Atlanta personal injury lawyer, a large number of the serious injury cases I handle are the result of an auto accident. The overwhelming majority of my auto accident cases involve the negligence of the other driver due to causes other than speed.
Despite my professional observations, speeding seems to get the most attention from lawmakers concerned with the number of fatal car accidents in Georgia. Recently, Governor Purdue's "Super Speeder" law went into effect across the State, leading me to question whether speed really is the biggest factor in auto accidents. The answer from the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration confirmed what I have seen time and time again in my auto accident injury cases.
According to the NHTSA, the number one cause of auto accidents is driver recognition errors, which is a category that includes inadequate surveillance, internal and external distractions, and inattention. The leading single cause of auto accidents turns out to be inadequate surveillance, which includes a driver's failure to look before making a maneuver or looked but did not see the other driver before making the maneuver.
The next leading cause of auto accidents turns out to be internal driver distraction. The leading internal distraction being talking to a passenger, followed by cell phone use.
The results from this extensive study were not at all surprising.
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| January 12, 2010 |
| Welcome to our Blog |
| Posted By Ben Licas |
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| Welcome to our Blog |
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| 10 posts found. Viewing page 1 of 1. |
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