damages

Who Pays for My Damages After a Georgia Dog Bite?

September 21, 2024 | Benjamin S. Persons, IV

After a dog bite, you may face significant financial losses. First and foremost, you may incur tremendous medical bills as you seek to address your various injuries. You may also lose income after being forced to miss work due to your injuries. These two losses feed into each other, and it becomes increasingly difficult to pay your medical bills with no income to speak of. Finally, you might incur various “non-economic” damages – including PTSD, depression, loss of enjoyment of life, and other psychological concerns. Who pays for these damages after a dog bite in Georgia?

Dog Owners Often Pay for Damages After a Dog Attack

The obvious party who becomes liable for dog bite injuries is the owner. In Georgia, you can hold these dog owners liable for your injuries – even if they took reasonable steps to prevent harm from occurring. The real question is whether they have enough assets to cover your damages.

Can I Claim Non-Economic Damages After a Georgia Car Accident?

September 13, 2024 | Benjamin S. Persons, IV

Non-economic damages could prove crucial as you recover from a Georgia car accident. When it comes to traumatic injuries, the physical consequences are just one part of the equation. Serious injuries inevitably come with psychological distress, worry, and anxiety. Many car crash survivors develop legitimate psychological disorders as they do their best to recover. But what exactly are non-economic damages, and why are they so important? Can you claim these damages after a car accident in Marietta?

Non-Economic Damages in Georgia Explained

Non-economic damages represent your psychological or emotional issues after a car accident. These damages are not the same as “economic damages,” which represent only your financial losses. As a result of their non-financial nature, non-economic damages can be quite abstract. You can’t put a clear price on anxiety in the same way as a lost paycheck, for example.

Georgia Court Tosses $100,000 Award of Future Medical Expenses in Car Accident Lawsuit

September 11, 2020 | Benjamin S. Persons, IV

A jury verdict in favor of the victim is often not the “last word” in a personal injury case. Aside from any appeal the defense might bring, the trial judge can also issue what is known as a “judgment notwithstanding the verdict” (j.n.o.v.) This basically means the judge finds that, based on the evidence presented during the trial, there can only be “one reasonable conclusion as to the proper judgment.” Put another way, j.n.o.v. is only appropriate when it is not a “close case” and the evidence–including any reasonable inferences someone could make from such evidence–inevitably leads to a conclusion that differed from that of the jury.

Gary v. Brown

A recent decision from the Georgia Court of Appeals, Gary v. Brown, illustrates the type of case in which a court may grant a j.n.o.v. This personal injury lawsuit involved a 2014 auto accident. The defendant rear-ended the plaintiff’s vehicle. The plaintiff did not initially seek medical treatment following the collision.

Ga. Court of Appeals: 13-Month Delay in Reporting Accident to Insurance Company Was “Unreasonable”

June 12, 2020 | Benjamin S. Persons, IV

If you are injured in an auto accident, you naturally assume that your insurance policy will help cover your damages. As with any contract, you need to carefully review and understand the terms of your policy. You may need to comply with a number of conditions before the insurer is legally obligated to provide you with coverage. Your failure to comply can–and will–be strictly held against you by the courts.

Geico General Insurance Company v. Breffle

A recent decision from the Georgia Court of Appeals, Geico General Insurance Company v. Breffle, provides a cautionary example. This case involves an insured driver (the plaintiff) who was injured in an April 2016 auto accident with another vehicle. The plaintiff sought medical treatment for his injuries a few days after the accident. In December 2016, about eight months after the accident, the plaintiff underwent a surgical procedure as part of his treatment. Later, in March 2017, the plaintiff’s doctors advised him that he would need a second surgery.

Macon Judge Dismisses Truck Driver’s Claim for “Loss of Income” Due to Insufficient Evidence

February 7, 2020 | Benjamin S. Persons, IV

There are two broad components to any personal injury lawsuit. The first component is establishing the defendant was negligent and violated some legal duty owed to the plaintiff. The second component is actually proving the damages sustained by the plaintiff as a result of this negligence.

When it comes to damages, a plaintiff needs to be as specific as possible, especially with respect to damages that can be calculated to some degree of certainty. You cannot simply show up in court and ask a judge or jury to “use common sense” in figuring out what the defendant owes you. To put it another way, you cannot ask the court to engage in speculation to decide your damages.

Perez v. Bowman

When can You Directly Sue a Defendant’s Insurance Company for Accident Damages?

November 29, 2019 | Benjamin S. Persons, IV

In many successful personal injury cases, the defendant’s insurance company ends up paying most of the judgment. You might therefore think it would “save a step” just to sue the insurance company directly. In most cases, such “direct action” is not permitted under Georgia law. The legal theory behind this is that an insurance policy is a contract between the insurer and the insured, and the injured person is a third party who is not “privy” to this agreement.

However, Georgia law makes an exception to the prohibition on “direct action” when the insured party is a “motor carrier.” That is to say, if you are injured in an accident caused by a motor carrier, you may file directly sue both the carrier and its insurance company for damages.

Mitchell v. Dixie Transport, Inc.

Georgia Supreme Court Rejects Lawsuit Over Accidental Disclosure of Citizens’ Personal Information

May 24, 2019 | Benjamin S. Persons, IV

Personal injury claims are not always about car accidents or even physical injuries. Negligence can affect victims in many other ways, such as forcing them to incur a financial loss or depriving them of some other intrinsic right. That said, a plaintiff can only recover damages when the negligence was rooted in some legal duty owed him or her by the defendant.

Georgia Department of Labor v. McConnell

For example, the Supreme Court of Georgia recently issued an opinion, Georgia Department of Labor v. McConnell addressing the question of whether state officials owe a legal duty to protect the personal information of individuals from unauthorized disclosure. The background for this case was a 2013 incident in which an employee of the Georgia Department of Labor accidentally emailed a spreadsheet containing the personal information of over 4,700 residents of Cherokee, Cobb, and Fulton Counties to approximately 1,000 recipients.

Georgia Court of Appeals Upholds $10.9 Million Car Accident Verdict

March 29, 2019 | Benjamin S. Persons, IV

In personal injury cases you often hear about damages for “pain and suffering.” This includes mental as well as physical pain. While there is obviously no precise way to quantify such non-economic injuries, there are certain legal guidelines judges and juries must follow when determining such awards.

Warnock v. Sandford

The Georgia Court of Appeals recently addressed this subject. In Warnock v. Sandford, a jury awarded nearly $11 million in damages to an auto accident victim for his physical and mental pain and suffering. The defendant appealed, alleging the judge improperly instructed the jury as to the law.

Can You Owe Your Own Insurance Company Money After Winning a Personal Injury Judgment?

January 18, 2019 | Benjamin S. Persons, IV

Following a car accident, you may receive certain benefits from your own insurance company. If you later end up suing a negligent third party for damages related to the accident, your insurer may have the right to recover part of any money you receive from the case. To put it another way, you may not be allowed to recover twice for the same injury–once from your insurance company, and then again from the negligent driver in court.

Appling v. State Farm Fire and Casualty

A recent Georgia Court of Appeals decision, Appling v. State Farm Fire & Casualty, offers a helpful example. In 2013, the plaintiff was injured in a car accident. The other driver’s insurance company agreed to settle with the plaintiff for the limits of the policy, which was $25,000. As this was not enough to compensate the plaintiff for his total injuries, he then filed a claim with his own uninsured/underinsured motorist (UM) carrier, which was State Farm.

Can You Recover Personal Injury Damages for Witnessing a Fatal Accident?

October 19, 2018 | Benjamin S. Persons, IV

An accident often leaves more than physical injuries. The victims also suffer emotional trauma that may persist for weeks, months, and even years after the accident itself. For this reason, Georgia law does recognize a variety of claims for emotional damages arising from an accident caused by a third party’s negligence.

Malibu Boats, LLC v. Batchelder

Just how far can such claims go? That is a question the Georgia Court of Appeals recently confronted in Malibu Boats, LLC v. Batchelder, a personal injury case arising from a 2014 boating accident in Rabun County, Georgia. The plaintiffs–a family including two adults and four children–took out a boat manufactured by the defendant onto Lake Burton.